Beautiful Fool
by Witka
Summary: When a lonely little boy finds a sword that can talk to him, his entire fate changes. A sword that loves humans finds a half-demon child and decides to join with him. Things won't be quite the same for anyone, but is it a curse or a blessing? Crossover with Durarara.
1. Ripples in the Pond

New story! I just watched Blue Exorcist and it was inspiring. This story found its way in my head and hasn't left me alone. This is what I get for watching Durarara and then Blue Exorcist right after it. So I'm going to try and do it proper justice. Feedback is much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. *sigh*

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Sometimes the most important and life changing meetings are the ones that are entirely unplanned. After all fate is fickle and prone to change. It was something that Okumura Rin would become very familiar with in his eventful life. The first time it happened though, he wasn't even aware of it. In so many ways, this one event would change everything, for Rin and the people around him. Like ripples in a pond after a stone is thrown in it.

Ten year old Okumura Rin was walking home from school alone. It never used to happen, but with Yukio taking extra tutoring and cram school classes, it was becoming more common. In fact Yukio was so busy that sometimes Rin felt like he only saw his twin when they were getting ready for bed and at meal times. Sometimes not even then. Of course with all the extra classes that meant that their father had to take Yukio there and bring him back, so the both of them were gone a lot.

Rin emphatically told himself he wasn't lonely, that he didn't miss his brother or the Old Man so much that he wanted to cry. He was ten, almost eleven actually! Too old to be missing people who obviously had more important things to do. Besides, Yukio had told him he wanted to be a doctor, which meant he had to study extra hard. They didn't meant to leave Rin behind. Frustrated with his own thoughts, Rin squashed up all of his negative feelings until they formed a ball in his chest. Then he impulsively kicked a pebble on the ground, putting all of those feelings into it.

What happened next would have been predictable to almost anyone, especially the few adults that were close to Rin. The issue with Rin was that he was never aware of his own strength, so he never learned how to hold it back. So it was hardly surprising that when he kicked the rock with all of the frustration and sorrow his small body was held, that it went high, sailed several yards before impacting the back of someone's head. Since Rin had the devil's own luck, (quite literally though he didn't know it at the time), the head belonged to the leader a group of delinquents from the local middle school.

It wasn't hard to identify the culprit as the wide eyed grade schooler standing ten feet back from them. What happened next was almost predictable in its own way. Rin was strong for a ten year old, but he was still just ten, the older boys had several feet and at least an extra twenty pounds each behind them. Even with all of his strength, Rin was only one boy and the battle was over before it had even properly begun. After that, they took a great deal of joy in 'punishing' Rin for daring to hit their leader.

"Heh. Kasho, I think we broke the little kid. He's not even responding anymore when I kick him." There was a wet thud as the shoe impacted Rin's side again, the pain just an echo of all the others he felt. Rin knew something was broken, things were bleeding and he didn't think his arm should be like that, but his mind was too hazy to focus on any of it.

"That's ok Nigiwaki. If the toy isn't working anymore I'll just have to break it permanently. Besides, its not like anyone would miss the little demon bastard." Kasho was a rangy boy who had hit a growth spurt recently that made all of his limbs seem too long and awkward for his frame. Acne was sprinkled across his face like malignant seeds, lending him a generally repulsive look. Kasho played it off as toughness though and managed to make it work for him. He rooted around in his bag before pulling something out and holding it up so that the light glinted off of it.

"Woah, where'd you get the sword Kasho?"

"Great isn't it? My uncle had this in his antiques shop so I _borrowed_ it from him." Kasho snickered, which prompted all of his lackeys to laugh along with him. "Why don't we test out? I've always wanted to see how one of things cuts."

Kasho let out another laugh as he walked over to where Rin lay, blue eyes staring blankly. Rin knew that one of his arms was broken, and each breath he tried to bring in was full of jagged searing pain, like he was breathing hot gravel. Yet as he watched Kasho holding that sword, he knew it would be even worse.

_Move... Move! If you don't move, they'll kill you!_ Rin was screaming in his own head, but his body wouldn't obey him. As the sword moved closer, despair found its way into Rin's heart. He was certain the boys would kill him, and he knew that no one would miss him, not for a long time. Probably not until they noticed he wasn't home for dinner, or maybe not even until bedtime.

The sword seemed to glow red in the fading sunlight as Kasho lifted it over his head. The boy overbalanced slightly and had to take a minute to correct himself before he brought it down. Rin was lucky that the most Kasho knew about swinging a sword came from samurai and yakuza movies, which meant he had no real idea how to handle it.

At the last moment Rin managed to bring an arm up to try and protect his head form the blow. The sword ended up cutting his arm, leaving a slashing line of fiery pain from his wrist to his elbow. Blood quickly soaked his sleeve and began to drip onto the ground. Rin watched the blood, red taking over his vision briefly before it all faded to white. Rin thought he heard screaming, but it all seemed so distant from him.

When Rin's eyes finally focused again, he was was greeted with a strange sight. All of the boys who had been beating him were laying on the ground, each one with slashes on their body. Kasho himself was laying several feet away arms splayed out. The sword he'd been so proud of was laying just out of his reach.

Rin managed to find the strength to scoot over, reaching out to grab the hilt. He wasn't sure what he was doing, except that maybe he could use it to pull himself up. The second he touched it though, he felt a warm wave move through him.

_Strange, you are a strange one. I can't unite with you in my love like I have with the others. _

"What do you mean? Who's talking?" Rin looked around, trying to find the strange voice.

_I am talking to you. _

"Where are you? C-come out already!" Rin wasn't able to stop the quiver in his voice.

_I am right here, I am the sword you are holding in your hand. Who are you?_

Rin stared hesitantly down at the sword, childish brain trying to figure out how a sword could talk to him. It never occurred to him doubt that it was indeed the sword talking. "I'm Rin... Okumura Rin."

_Rin... Are you lonely Rin? You seem very sad, I can see it your soul. If you take me with you, you'll never be alone again. I will love you forever, Rin._

Rin sniffed, staring at the sword for a minute. Unbeknownst to little Rin, this was a decision that would ripple throughout his life. If he had given it more thought, Rin might not have accepted the offer, but Rin was an impulsive child who had been feeling very alone of late. "Promise?"

_Of course, Okumura Rin. We are united now. _

Rin watched in amazement as the sword seemed to sink into his arm, disappearing completely. The voice was still there though, offering comfort and encouragement to get moving.

Rin was never sure how exactly he made it back to the monastery that day. He just remembered one of the priests coming out and letting a shocked gasp at the state he was in. Father was called for and Rin was bundled inside so they could tend to his wounds. Father ended up having to take him to the hospital to be treated. The slash needed twenty-eight stitches and his other arm was broken in two places.

The doctor insisted on keeping Rin over night for observation given the extent of his injuries and the chance of a possible concussion. The Old Man insisted on staying with him, which made a distant part of Rin feel warm. For the most part though, Rin barely responded to anything that happened. It wasn't because he was in shock, like the doctor kept saying. It was just he kept hearing the voice in his head, constantly talking and he didn't know how to deal with it.

"What's your name?" Rin asked quietly when his father had left for coffee, claiming it would be a long night.

_My name is Saika._

"Saika?" Rin smiled a little, closing his eyes. "I like Saika."

_Saika loves humans. I love humans. And I love Rin. I love Rin. I love humans. I love all humans. I want to show humans my love. I'll show Rin my love. I love humans. I love Rin. I'll show you my love. I'll show all humans my love. I love humans. I love humans, I love you Rin. I love humans. I'll show humans my love._

Rin supposed it might be creepy to others, the way the voice spoke. To Rin though, it was soothing, kind of like a lullaby and he let it follow him into his dreams.

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Questions? Comments? Flames?


	2. Mysterious Friend

Many lovely responses which made me super happy. So I'm gonna do a quick response before going on to the chapter. Also, there will be a question on the end that I want people's opinions on.

Anonymous reviewer: I'm glad you like the idea, and I hope I live up to the expectations.

Kudai Kage: Here's the next part with more hopefully coming soonish.

Unknown Being: Thank you very much for the compliment!

Gyneth-Coral-Melody-Laterza: I love Durarara to absolute bits and obviously Blue Exorcist too. Watching in close succession you get this and I had another idea for a story, but going to focus here mainly. I hope you like how I continue to work Saika in here.

So without further ado, next chapter!

* * *

Shiro leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a tired sigh. After a few moments he straightened up, looking back down at the sheet of paper in front him, hoping that it had changed. Unfortunately for the Paladin, the paper remained the same as it was five minutes ago. It was a notice from Rin's middle school requesting that Shiro come in and meet with the boy's homeroom teacher.

It had honestly been awhile since Shiro had received a summons like this. He knew Rin could be difficult, but his temperament had seemed to improve lately. Rin still got into fights, but they were fewer than ever before and hardly ever at the school itself. Those notices came from the principal himself. Notes from the homeroom teacher usually involved Rin's grades.

Which lead Shiro to the thought that he hadn't actually seen any of Rin's schoolwork recently. He wondered if it was because he had been so busy with Yukio's training for the Exorcist proficiency exam. Shiro sighed, wishing for a cigarette as he looked out his window at the slate gray sky. Maybe, he was just a bad father. After all, he'd pushed one son into a dangerous line of work and he was keeping important secrets from the other one, something which was sure to blow up in his face rather spectacularly at some point.

"Why exactly did I decide adopting those two would be a good idea again?" Shiro asked no one in particular as he stood up. No time like the present to get the whole ordeal over with.

Soon enough he was in Rin's classroom, sitting across from a pretty thirty-something teacher who introduced herself as Kanazaki Masato. Her dark hair was pulled back in loose bun, several wavy strands falling loose as she talked about how happy she was to see him. "I really am grateful for you coming to see me so quickly Father Fujimoto. I've heard a great deal about you."

Shiro laughed at that, waving his hand. "I'm afraid to even ask what exactly you've heard about me, so I think I'll tell you not to believe any of it. Unless its about how handsome I am, then you should definitely believe it Ms. Kanzaki."

She laughed at that, covering her mouth with her hand. "Well they were certainly right about you being a character Father Fujimoto." There was a rustling sound as she moved the papers around on her desk, obviously looking for something.

Shiro didn't want to draw out this whole ordeal. Especially to hear what many other teachers had already told him. So with a small sigh, Shiro leaned forward, holding his hands on his lap. "So in your note you said you wanted to talk to me about Rin. Is there something wrong with his schoolwork?"

"No! Not at all." Ms Kanzaki shook her head quickly. "In fact Rin's being doing much better than I expected based on his entrance scores." Having finally found what she was looking, Kanzaki pushed several sheets of paper towards him. "He started a little low, but he's been steadily improving since school began."

Shiro couldn't hide his surprise as he looked at the papers. Of course, compared to Yukio's papers they weren't the best, but for Rin these were exceptional scores. Passing grades on all of them, not very high but much better than any Shiro had seen since the boys started school.

"Its amazing..." He looked up at the teacher before bowing slightly. "Thank you for all the work you've put in Ms Kanzaki."

"Oh don't thank me, please, I haven't been doing anything extra with Rin. In fact I was as surprised as you when it started happening. When I finally asked Rin about it, he said that Saika was helping him with his schoolwork. I really wanted you to pass along my thanks to them. Is she someone that works at the monastery with you?"

That caused Shiro to pause, a frown creasing his face. "Saika? There isn't anyone who works at the monastery by that name."

The teacher frowned, a few small lines showing up on her face. "Oh, did you hire a tutor to help Rin instead?"

Her ton was so hopeful that it made Shiro feel worse to have to let her down. "I'm sorry, we haven't really had the funds to find a tutor who can put up with Rin's energetic personality." The teacher's frowned deepened, which made Shiro's gut twist slightly. "But... the name does sound familiar." Shiro searched for where he knew that name from. "Saika..."

Where had heard that name before? It was certainly unique enough, Shiro was certain he could remember where he had heard. After several moment, the memory came in a flash, making Shiro straighten.

_It was a month after school started and for once both he and Yukio were back at the church in time for dinner. All of them had just sat down when Yukio started to look around in concern. _

"_Where's brother? Isn't he eating dinner with us?" They were having sukiyaki, a rare treat and one of Rin's favorite dishes. It made no sense for his brother not to be there._

_It was Kyodo who responded, adding some meat to the sukiyaki. "Rin's not home yet. He's been staying out pretty late recently. He doesn't come back hurt and it never looks like he's had a fight. We haven't bothered him about it because he always home before its too late."_

_Yukio frowned, staring at his plate as everyone else began to eat. Shiro could tell that Rin's absence bothered Yukio, because it bothered him too. Maybe it was selfish to expect Rin to just be there waiting for them when they came back with that foolish grin on his face. But Shiro missed seeing the troublemaker. Time spent with Rin was precious because it was rare, now it seemed like it would be even rarer._

_The meal was almost over when the rear door opened, Rin stepping through quietly. He paused when he saw everyone sitting around the table staring at him. "I'm back..." _

_Yukio stood up, staring at his brother. "Welcome home Rin. Where were you? You missed almost all of dinner."_

_Rin just sort of blinked, tilting his head to the side before he shrugged. He gave his brother a faint smile, walking over the table. "Thanks for the concern Yukio. I just lost track of the time."_

_Yukio frowned, his eyebrows creasing slightly. "Where were you Brother? That's not like you."_

_Rin matched Yukio's frown before turning away. "I was with Saika. If I'd known you and Dad would be here I'd have paid more attention to the time." He leaned over, sniffing. "You guys had sukiyaki too, I hope you left me some."_

_Shiro had laughed at that, feeling at ease at how normal Rin seemed. "First come, first served Rin! Better hurry if you want to get any."_

"_Not fair old man! I'm a growing kid I need to eat!"_

"_Don't seem to be growing that much to me."_

Shiro shook himself out of the memory, smiling slightly before looking up at the teacher. "There's no one at the monastery named Saika, but I remember Rin mentioning her. I thought Saika was a classmate."

Kanzaki frowned, shaking her head slowly. "There's no one in the class by that name, there isn't even anyone in his grade with that name. I remember when he said that it was strange name. I'm certain I would have recognized it."

"Is there anyone in the school with that name?" Shiro had a cold feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't thought about Saika since that night, now though he was wished he'd asked Rin about her. At the time, Shiro had simply been glad that Rin had a friend besides his brother to spend time with.

"Not that I'm aware of." Shiro watched the woman fidget slightly, pushing a few stray pieces of hair back before looking up at him. "Father Fujimoto, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about, regarding Rin. I'm a little worried about him, his behavior has been highly, irregular."

As bad as it might seem, Shiro was actually more comfortable with this conversation. It was another one he'd had dozens of times over the years. "Ms Kanzaki, I know Rin can be loud and a handful, but he's a good kid really. He just tends to grate on other people's nerves without realizing it." Shiro smiled a little, but it faded when he met the young teacher's concerned eyes.

There was a small beat of silence as she took a deep breath before speaking. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. The boy you just described, doesn't sound anything like the Rin I have in my class. Rin doesn't talk much unless he's called on. He takes notes, he turns in most of his assignments but he's very isolated from the rest of the class. Also, he seems to sleep a lot. I've caught him napping in class a couple of times, and evidently during most lunch breaks if he's not with his brother, he's up on the school's roof sleeping. To be perfectly honest Father Fujimoto, I'm worried about Rin. I'm concerned about his emotional and social development, its simply not healthy to be that closed off from everyone. He doesn't even try to interact with the other students."

Shiro forced a smile quickly, trying to alleviate the teacher's worries. "Well, Rin's never had the easiest time making friends. I guess maybe its carried over into middle school. Or maybe the knucklehead is starting to take things seriously for once. I'm sure its nothing to worry about, but I'll speak with him about it."

He could the teacher was entirely convinced by his words, but she didn't push the subject any longer. Instead she thanked him for his time and told him no to hesitate to contact her if there was something that Rin needed help with. It made Shiro feel better to know that she was someone who was so concerned for his son.

Later that night though, after Rin and Yukio were asleep, Shiro thought back to the meeting with the teacher. He wondered if the changes she mentioned in Rin were gradual, or if he really had completely missed what was happening with his oldest. Shiro hated to admit it, but he hadn't really been able to give Rin a lot of attention lately.

There were a dozen of reasons he could give. Increased demon activity in the city. Helping Yukio prepare for his exorcist proficiency exam. And then there was Shura, mentoring her was almost like having a third child. A very busty child with a foul mouth, so kind of like a female Rin. In the end though, they were all just excuses and Shiro knew it. Bringing a hand up, he massaged the bridge of his nose. He hadn't been aware that Rin had been improving his grades at school, that he wasn't coming home until late on the nights he and Yukio weren't there, and he hadn't known about Saika.

Saika, the mysterious person that Rin seemed to be spending a lot of time with, yet no one knew who she was. Saika wasn't a classmate, unless it was an upper level classmate. There wasn't anyone at the church with that name either, he'd even asked the other priests to see if they knew anything. They had heard of Saika, but Rin hadn't mentioned anything other than he spent time with her. Anytime he came back late actually he just said he was with Saika, giving no other explanation. It worried Shiro that someone could have gotten so close to Rin without any of them having actually met her. Shiro decided to ask Yukio if Rin had mentioned Saika to him at all. Even thought the twins had grown a little distant from each other in the past few years, there was still no one else they were closer to than each other.

Shiro hoped he was just overreacting. He would love nothing more than for Rin to have made a friend, or even better a girlfriend. A girlfriend with a cute personality and a nice big set of... well he'd save that thought for another day. Given Rin's heritage, there would always be a need to be careful of just who got close to him.

"That boy is going to drive me to an early grave, Yuri." Shiro murmured, wishing very much that he had a cigarette right then.

Yukio liked watching his brother cook. He would even take a break from his homework just to watch. Rin always seemed to just float through life, so it was nice to see him moving with a purpose. That Rin was truly great at cooking was another bonus. Though Yukio had to wonder when exactly his brother had become such a music fan. Rin was currently sporting a pair of headphones that he hadn't removed the entire time he was cooking. Watching Rin try and shake his hips to whatever beat he was listening to was actually pretty amusing, something Yukio would only admit in the privacy of his own mind.

As amusing as it was to watch his brother, he had actually hoped to hold a conversation with him. "Hey Rin." Yukio frowned when he didn't get a response. "Rin." Still no response, Rin just kept happily chopping vegetables as he bopped along. Yukio, finally getting frustrated at his brother's lack of response walked over, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Rin, you shouldn't have the music so loud..."

As soon as Yukio placed his hand on Rin's shoulders, two things happened in quick succession. The first was Rin's headphones slipped down around his neck as he turned towards the touch, music blasting from the small speakers. The second was that he brought the knife around with him in a sharp slicing motion that Yukio only managed to avoid thanks to all of the training he'd done with Shura. For a brief second, Yukio thought his brother's eyes turned red.

"Rin..."

There tension was thick in the air as two shades of blue eyes locked on each other in surprise. The silence seemed to drag out forever, the tension growing even heavier. When Yukio finally thought he wouldn't he able to take it any longer, Rin sagged against the counter, pale faced and panting. "Damnit Yukio! Don't you know you're not supposed to sneak up on someone in the kitchen! You could have gotten hurt doing that!"

"Well you shouldn't have headphones on in the first place! I tried calling you but you couldn't hear me!" The shouting was familiar, and it did a lot to calm Yukio's suddenly tense nerves. He could see it was also calming his brother, who was not giving him a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Heh, sorry about that." Rin scratched the back of his head lightly, setting the knife carefully on the cutting board.

"Why are you wearing those anyway?"

"I dunno, guess I just got tired of the silence in here when I'm cooking." Rin shrugged, making his way over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of juice. "You want something to drink?"

"Thank you." Yukio went back to the table, sitting down again. "Why would it be quiet in here? There's usually always something going on."

"Not really. When you and dad are gone and the other priests are working, its just me. Gets a little lonely sometimes, so I started listening to music." Rin handed Yukio a glass, giving him a small smile. Yukio could see the sadness in his brother's eyes, even though Rin was trying very hard to cover it.

"Sorry about being gone so much lately, the cram school this year was harder than I expected." Yukio looked at his glass, fighting a sudden urge to tell his brother everything. It wasn't the first time he'd had an impulse to tell Rin the truth. It was hard keeping secrets from your brother, especially when they were the only real friend you had. Yukio just reminded himself that it was for Rin's benefit, and his protection. Rin would never be the kind of person who could live quietly knowing he was the son of Satan. "But I promise I'm going to be around more, now that schools finally settled down."

Rin smiled at that, one of his genuine, happy smiles. He set his Walkman down on the table before going back to the cutting board. "I'm glad to hear that. You study way too hard Yukio, you're going to give yourself wrinkles and then you'll loose all your fan girls."

Yukio smiled a little at that, watching his brother's back. "I doubt that will happen Rin. Besides, you're hardly one to speak, you could probably do with some more studying knowing your grades."

Rin huffed at that. "Hey! I'll have you know I've been doing a lot better in school this year." Rin walked over to where his bag was, rooting around for a minute before shoving a paper in Yukio's face. "Read it and weep, my last exam score and class ranking."

Yukio reached up, taking the paper and adjusting his glasses. His eyes widened in surprise as he read it over. "Class rank, 179. Wow Rin, that's really impressive!"

Rin flushed a little, turning away and returning to his cooking. "You don't have to sound that surprised Yukio. I might not be a genius like you, but I can do alright when I work at it."

"I'm not criticizing you at all Rin, I'm really happy that you're doing so well. Have you shown it to father yet?"

"Not yet, haven't been able to find a good time to do it. Don't want to cause the old man a heart attack." Rin said.

"He'll be happy to see it. I guess all those naps you've been taking on the roof really were to help you focus." Yukio paused for a minute, wrapping his fingers around his glass. "I've been meaning to ask Rin, why do you go up there all the time?"

Rin shrugged, before falling still. "I dunno, its just soothing I guess. Especially on sunny, cloudless days. You know when the sky is so blue and so bright that it feels like it could burn you up if you stare at it too long..." Rin looked beautiful in that moment, a serene smile lighting his face.

Yukio stared at his brother with wide eyes, his glass slipping from fingers that had suddenly gone numb. The sound of it shattering on the floor was enough to bring Rin's attention back to him. "Yukio! Are you ok? Be more careful!" Rin was suddenly in front of him, carefully moving Yukio away from the glass.

"I'm fine Rin, it was just... just an accident." Yukio hated how his voice wavered in the middle. He carefully shook off Rin's hands (had they always been so warm?) before stepping back. "I'll just go and get the broom to clean up."

"Nah, its ok. Go get changed, I think you got some on yourself. I'll handle cleaning it up." Rin flashed him a smile, pushing him towards the exit. "Go on, I need to finish dinner anyway."

Yukio took the offered escape, confused over what to think. The part of him that was trained as an exorcist told him he should tell his father about it right away, after all it could be some obscure sign that Rin's powers were awakening. The part that was Rin's brother said he should just keep it to himself. He'd been surprised by Rin's words, but now he was starting to think that maybe he over reacted. For now, the brotherly part won out, and Yukio resolutely pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He stored it right next to the memory of how Rin's had seemed to glow red when Yukio had surprised him.

Less than an hour later, they were all gathered around the dining table for dinner. There was the usual comments on how wonderful everything was. No one seemed to notice that Yukio was a bit more subdued than normal, picking at the food more than eating it.

"So Rin, when are we going to meet this girlfriend of yours?" Shiro smirked at his oldest son, leaning over. "What kinda girl is she? Cute and nerdy with some great assets? Older woman who's willing to educate you?"

Rin jumped slightly at Shiro's question, obviously having been tuning the conversations out. When he realized what was being asked though, he turned a rather impressive shade of red. "What the hell are you talking about Old Man? I don't have a girlfriend, and even if I did I'd never bring her here to meet all of you perverts."

Shiro sat back in his chair, setting his chopsticks down. "Well then who is this Saika we keep hearing about? If she's not your girlfriend, then just who is she?"

Rin looked down, fidgeting slightly before answering. "Saika's not my girlfriend, Saika's just a friend. Helps me a bit with my schoolwork, we listen to music together."

"You've mentioned her before brother, but never where you met her." Yukio wanted to know more about this person who was spending so much time with his brother. He refused to admit that he was jealous of someone he didn't even know. Yet the idea of Rin spending a lot of time with someone else made his stomach twist uncomfortably. The idea of it being a girl made the feeling even worse.

"I dunno, I just met her on the way home when I stopped at the library. She offered to help me with some of my homework when I was having trouble, that's all. Hey! Stop laughing Old Man!" Rin glared at Shiro, who was currently laughing heartily at his son.

"All this time I thought Yukio was going to be the heart breaker, but you went and surprised me Rin."

Yukio listened to his brother and father argue, continuing to pick at his food. He wondered if their father had noticed that Rin had basically avoided the question. The idea of Rin keeping a secret from him was unsettling. Yukio was entirely aware that it was incredibly hypocritical of him to be upset over it, given the secrets he was keeping. That did nothing to change how he felt though.

Yukio didn't want his brother to think that he needed to be protected any longer. Instead, Yukio wanted to be the one to protect his brother for once. More than anything, Yukio wanted to be someone Rin could rely on. He hated the idea of Rin relying on anyone else, especially this Saika person. He hadn't been around, and Yukio knew that Rin hated being alone so naturally he'd try to find someone else he could spend time with. To Yukio it meant he had to get stronger and pass his exorcist proficiency exam. When that was done, he could spend more time with Rin, he'd even help his brother with homework. Then Rin wouldn't have a reason to meet up with Saika.

_You think they suspect something about me?_

Rin stirred at the sound of Saika's voice in his head, slowly sitting up in his bed. "Maybe... The way dad kept asking questions about you, something set him off."

_Then we will be more careful and give them no reason to suspect. _

"Definitely need to be more careful, I could have hurt Yukio today in the kitchen." Rin closed his eyes, the memory of earlier flashing behind his eyelids. "I never want that to happen again." Rin voice was soft and fierce, very much aware that his brother was sleeping nearby.

_It will get better, as you become more aware. You love Yukio, Rin?_

"Of course I do, he's my brother. He's... everything." Rin said simply, laying back down, curling under the blanket. "Even when he doesn't want me, he's still everything."

_Then I love Yukio, like I love Rin. Saika loves you both. Saika loves humans_. Rin smiled a little, letting Saika's words lull him to sleep.

* * *

Ok, so the question to all the readers is this: Should Shiro live or die? The story can kind of go either way. I sort of like the idea of Shiro living, but I'm horrible indecisive sometimes. So please leave some feedback, and if you have an opinion feel free to share.


	3. Pretty Lies

Rin stared forlornly at the ground as he walked home, hands shoved deeply into his pockets. A whole day spent looking for a job, a whole day wasted as he met rejection after rejection. Not a lot of places were hiring, and the few that were didn't want some young punk with only a junior high education. Rin resolutely ignored Saika's whispers in his ear about how if he just showed them her love he wouldn't have to worry about a job.

Well, always tomorrow Rin supposed. He'd try the south side of the city tomorrow, maybe he'd have better luck there. Nodding to himself Rin started to smile as he passed the local playground. The sudden sound of laughter made him turn, eyes widening as he saw a group of kids shooting pigeons with a crossbow.

"Great shot Shiratori! You're awesome with that."

"Can you believe how many of them there are? They're such a pain in the ass." The voice was nasal and arrogant, immediately bringing to mind half-buried memories that made Rin's arm and ribs ache with phantom pain.

Before his mind could even catch up, Rin's voice already rang out. "What the hell are you doing!?" He didn't even flinch when one of the crossbow bolts impacted by his head. But he could hear Saika's voice growing louder in his head, the way it always did when he was upset.

_Let me love them Rin! I love humans, I want to cut them and let them feel my love. Love, love, love, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE._

"Go away, I'm just getting rid of these stupid birds." Shiratori shouted back, calmly loading up another bolt as his friends laughed again.

It was the last straw for Rin. He'd had a horrible day, he hadn't gotten a job, Yukio was leaving soon, Saika was screaming and some rich hooligans were torturing poor birds. Without another thought Rin ran over, punching the white haired punk square in the jaw. He followed it up with another punch, Saika sliding down into his hand enough for him to leave a long, shallow cut on his cheek.

There was a grunt of pain and Rin felt himself being pulled back by Shiratori's friends, one of which nailed him with a solid left hook. He struggled a bit, waiting for the clicking of a connection. "Let me go, right now." Rin shook them off, glaring angrily.

Of course they didn't listen to him, and Rin wasn't about to just let himself get beat on. So he fought back, knocking one of them down and shoving the other into the fence. "What, what the hell? This guy fights like some kind of demon." The one he knocked down wheezed out, struggling to get back up.

Rin knew the second Saika connected with Shiratori, making the boy one of her children. Rin straightened up, staring at Shiratori firmly. "Leave here now, and don't ever bother me again." It was an effort not to shout the words, but he managed to keep it even and low, watching as the other boy's now red eyes met his. There was a nod of understanding before Rin cut the connection.

"Forget about him, he's just some washed up jerk." Shiratori straightened up, grabbing his crossbow. "Let's get out of here, this whole thing has gotten lame." The rest of his friends looked confused, but none of them were willing to argue with their leader.

Rin scoffed, wiping his face. He grimaced when he found blood on his hand. "Dammit, now I'm going to get lectured by the Old Man and Yukio."

_Love, Saika got to love someone. Father will understand, Rin was loving them._

Rin sighed, showing his hands back in his pockets. _Saika, how many times do I have to tell you, your way of showing love is not exactly normal. _It had taken Rin a long time to get used to replying to Saika in his head instead of out loud.

_Love, love, love, love..._ Saika went back to her normal chant and Rin blocked it out, resuming his walk home. He could just imagine the lecture he was going to receive now.

Sure enough he soon found himself sitting in the confessional, spinning a story about tripping down the stairs and landing on a pretty girl. Which led to him and his father arguing, which naturally led to Yukio coming to investigate. Pretty typical, until the other priests started joining in. It wasn't that he didn't like the other priests, or that what they said wasn't true, it just hurt that they felt need to drive home what a failure he was.

Rin didn't have Yukio's grades or good temperament, he wasn't going to a prestigious high school, but dammit he was trying his best! Why didn't anyone ever seem to see that? It wasn't his fault that the world seemed to be doing its best to shit on him. Rin had felt his frustrations boil over, something new flaring inside of him that even Saika noticed. It found its release in the poor heater, which blew in a burst of blue flames. All Rin could do was stare as his father said something about needing to replace the old heater and urging Yukio to treat his brother's wounds before dinner.

Which was how Rin ended up sitting on the kitchen table, having antiseptic applied to the few scrapes he'd gotten. He stayed quiet, waiting for Yukio's part of the lecture to begin. As he waited he glanced around, seeing the boxes stacked neatly in the corner. It caused a stab of loneliness that had Rin swallowing hard and looking away. "So, you're really going to be moving into the dorm huh?"

"Yeah, with school starting in a week, I'll be saying goodbye to fifteen years here."

"One step closer to becoming a doctor. That's your dream isn't it?" Rin stared at the bandages on his fingers, wound so neatly. "I'm kind of envious that you have a dream like that. I know you'll be a great doctor Yukio."

Yukio stared at him intently. "Its not too late Brother, you could still get into a high school. Not True Cross Academy, but one of the locale high schools. I know you passed the test for Southern Cross High. Since finding a job isn't going well, it would give you something else to do. It would do a lot to ease Dad's worries about you."

Rin snorted slightly, looking away from the disappointed look he knew his little brother was sending him. "I'm not cut out for school Yukio. I made it through junior high, that's enough. Besides, we all know I'm not the smart one. Anyway, the job search isn't over yet, I might get one tomorrow."

There was a heavy sigh, but Yukio eventually smiled, packing up the first aid kit. "You're right, tomorrow is another day. But since this is the night of my farewell party, you owe me a proper feast."

Rin grinned, though it felt forced. "Of course Yukio, let me change and I will make you the best farewell feast ever." Rin could at least do that right, if nothing else.

_Don't be lonely Rin, Saika will always love you. _

The next morning, Rin ended up sleeping later than he intended to. Yukio left him a note which Rin read before putting it with all of the other letters Yukio had left explaining why he was gone. "Couldn't even stay long enough to give me a proper goodbye." Rin buried the hurt at the bottom of his heart, with all the other little hurts he'd accumulated over the years.

Flinging the curtains open, Rin expected to be greeted with a normal, sunny day. What he saw instead were hoards of little bugs creatures flying about. He had seen the little bug things before, when he was used Saika he would often see things that weren't normal. Saika said they were demons, and that since he was using her power he could see them. But he knew for a fact he wasn't using Saika right now, so why could he see them?

Grabbing a hoody, Rin ran outside watching the people walking through clouds of the things without reacting. _Whats going on? Why am I able to see demons now? _

_Something is coming, things are changing. Rin, I think you're waking up now. Waking up to your heritage and the potential I've always seen inside of you._

_Saika? What are you talking about? _Rin was going to try and get more answers out his companion, but a loud voice stopped him.

"Okumura! Do you have a moment to spare for us?" Rin turned towards the voice, eyes widening when he saw Shiratori and his friends standing in front of the monastery gates.

_What is he doing here? I told him to leave me alone and not come back!_

_He is not one of our children anymore. Something had severed the connection, something strong._ Saika sounded surprised, which made Rin nervous. Anything that could surprise an ancient, intelligent demon sword was not something to be messed with.

"Too chicken to come out Okumura? Going to go and hide behind your daddy?"

Rin grit his teeth, stepping out the gate and over towards them. _Well, we're going to find out what it is, because I want this bastard to leave._

They ended up in a alley a several blocks from the monastery. The area was rather run down and oddly deserted given the time of day it was. "We're here now, so what do you want?" Rin kept his tone arrogant, masking any unease he felt.

"I want to know what it will take to get you to keep your mouth shut." Shiratori grinned, showing suddenly increased incisors. Rin noticed the little bug demons seemed to be swarming in greater numbers, proving something was definitely off about this guy. "See I'm going to be starting at the prestigious True Cross Academy soon and my parents are kind of famous, so the last thing I need is you running your mouth."

Rin scoffed, turning away from them. "I don't need your money, I wasn't going to tell anyway. All I want is for you to leave me the hell alone."

There was a grating laugh that made all of the hairs on Rin's neck stand up. "Just take the damned money, everyone knows you're dirt poor. Your little brother had to work his ass off just to get a scholarship to go to a decent school. The least you can do is help with his tuition."

Sometimes, Rin really hated how his body tended to react without any conscious thought. The second they mentioned Yukio, Rin was running back over there, punching Shiratori right where he'd slashed him the other day. "Don't you ever mention my brother again!"

Shiratori was kneeling on the ground, a hand pressed to his face. "That hurt... that's the second time you've hurt me. I wouldn't push it a third time if I were you!"

_Rin, Rin be careful, somethings coming. _

The warning was a little too late. Rin could only watch in stunned horror as Shiratori changed before his eyes. Horns erupted from his head, his ears and nails grew pointed and holy crap was that a tail? The shock over seeing someone change like that allowed the rest of the little gang to ambush him and pin him to the ground.

"You were raised by a priest right? Then you know the saying, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?" Shiratori grabbed a length of pipe that had been in a burning barrel. "I'm going to cause you twice the harm you caused me."

Both of his arms were trapped, leaving Rin no way to pull Saika out. He could hear the screaming of the sword in his head, and he pulled frantically at the bodies holding him down. Just a little bit, a little bit more and Saika would be able to slide free... When the red-hot steel pipe was placed in front of his eye, Rin knew it wouldn't be quick enough.

It was just like the other day in the church. Rin could feel something building up inside of him to a point where he couldn't contain it anymore. But this time, the explosion was much, much bigger. The entire area around Rin exploded into blue flames, the flying bug demons being vaporized while the humans were merely knocked back.

"Blue... flames? What is this?" Rin stared at his hand that was clearly on fire, but just as clearly not burning at all. "Saika, whats going on?"

_Demonic blood, demonic blood has awakened in you. To have such flames though..._

"Those flames are proof, proof that you are indeed the young prince." Rin looked up at the words, watching as the, the **thing** that had been Shiratori walked over to him. "I am Astaroth, a loyal follower of your father's. Come with me, my young prince. Your true father awaits his chance to be reunited with you."

Rin could just stare dumbly at the demon in front of him, his mind reeling from what he had just said. Then the day just got weirder as he heard his father's voice reciting some kind of scripture. Rin watched as his father pulled some kind of kung fu move and finished his scripture. A black stream seemed to eject itself from Shiratori, and when it was done he looked normal again.

"I've exorcised the demon possessing him. You can seem them now can't you? The demons that come up from Gehenna to possess things in Assiah." Shiro held out a hand out. "Get on your feet Rin, now that you've awakened every demon worth anything will be after you. We need to get you somewhere safe."

The world was spinning, but the axis had shifted. Everything seemed wrong somehow, yet deep inside of him, a part of Rin knew it was all real. The questions in his brain were enough to even drown out Saika for a change. He had always known there was something different about him, a notion that the sword had only reinforced. Now though, Rin feared it was worse than he had ever thought. "Whats going on? What am I?"

Shiro grabbed his arm, pulling Rin up to his feet. "I'll explain everything soon, I promise. For now though, we have to go." As if to reinforce the words, a pool of black... something began to form behind the fence, slowly bubbling up to take a shape. From every area, more things seemed to grow and erupt. It was like being trapped in one of the those scary video games. "We have to go, now!"

What followed was a confusing escapade where Rin was running with his father through back alleys, and then inexplicably over the rooftop of a local mall. Everywhere they went though, more and more demons showed up. The worst though was when they ran into the ghouls, the smell making Rin double over. His mind was whirling, barely able to keep pace with all of the changes.

When they finally stopped for rest inside of a stairwell, Rin leaned back against the door. It wasn't because he was tired or out of breath, he knew perfectly well he was in better shape than that. Looking at his father, he had a feeling that the worst hadn't even happened yet. "Are you going to tell me what's going on Old Man?"

Shiro straightened, letting out a long breath. "I said I would explain and I will, once we're safely back at the monastery." He glanced at the window, noticing that the sun was starting to sink. "We want to get home before dark, that's when the demons really get active."

Rin swallowed, straightening up. "Ok then, let's go." Rin started down the stairs, trying not to think too hard. He was afraid of what he was going to learn tonight, and he wanted reassurance because he could tell that everything would change after this.

_Saika loves Rin. Saika loves Rin. Saika loves Rin. Saika loves Rin. Saika always loves Rin._ He let the mantra wash over him, taking comfort in the way it never really changed. Saika was a touchstone in his life, something he knew was never going to change or leave, no matter what happened.

The return to the monastery was quiet, neither of them speaking. By the time they reached the gate, the tension between them was so thick that Rin thought he would suffocate if it wasn't broken soon. They were greeted by the other priests who immediately began to rattle off something about three-fold barriers and pouring holy water, things that Shiro understood but went right over Rin's head.

"We need to get inside Rin, and pray that our defenses will hold until morning." Shiro said, striding towards the church. Once inside, Rin noticed how everyone was moving with a purpose, how they all seemed to know what was going on. _Is everyone a part of this? Was I the only one not aware? Did they not trust me to know about this?_

_Rin's awakening is changing everything. Secrets will come out. Saika is here. Saika loves Rin._ The words were both comforting, and disconcerting. Part of it was just how Saika communicated to him, but this time Rin wished he could grab the sword and shake it for a straight answer.

"Rin! Are you ok Brother?" Yukio's voice rang out over the sounds of the priests moving around. Rin looked up to see his brother standing by the alter where Shiro was pushing back the heavy item to reveal a hidden staircase. Rin followed Yukio over, watching his father going over to a red cabinet and unlock with the key he always wore around his neck.

"I promised you answers Rin, and you'll get them now." Shiro turned, walking over and holding out a sword to Rin. Reflexively Rin took it, immediately testing the weight and balance of it in his hands. It was a beautiful sword, an indigo scabbard and matching wrapping around the hilt. Rin was certain if he unsheathed it the blade would be equally as impressive. Something in the sword called to Rin, a pulse that told him it was meant to be his.

_There is power in that sword, be cautious. The sword holds part of you inside of it, is is your birthright. _

Rin swallowed, looking up at his father, noting that Yukio had moved to stand beside him. "Whats going on Dad? Why are those things after me?"

Shiro took a breath, closing his eyes. For the first time, Rin noticed just how old his father actually was. "You, Rin, are not entirely human. You are the son of a demon and a human. Your mother was human but your father was the Lord of Demons, Satan himself. The sword you hold is named Kurikara, a demon-slaying sword that has been passed down for hundreds of years. When you were a baby I placed your powers in the blade and sealed it with the scabbard. You can't ever let it go, and you must never draw it. If you do, your full demonic powers will be unleashed and... you will never again be able to be human."

Rin felt like the world was shifting under him again, everything tilting crazily. Rin's eyes strayed over to his brother, who stood next to their father with a far too calm look on his face. "What... what about Yukio? If I'm the son of a demon, then doesn't that make him on as well?"

"I'm different brother." The light reflected off of Yukio's glasses, hiding his eyes. "Even though we're fraternal twins, I was the weaker one. My body rejected the demonic power, so I was born completely human."

Rin stared at his brother as the ground seemed to abandon him all together. Pieces of various different little things that had happened all through his childhood suddenly fell into place. Every time someone had called him a demon child, it was true wasn't it? Looking at his brother, taking in the calm demeanor, even more puzzle pieces slotted into place. All of the cram school trips, the time Yukio was away, it was because of this wasn't it?

"Yukio... you knew?" Rin heard his voice cracking, his hands clenching at his side.

"Yes, I knew. I've known for several years now. I was always able to see demons, so father told me about them, and about you."

Rin kept his head down, glad for the unruly bangs that hid his eyes. "Did everyone know about this Dad? Was I the only one you couldn't trust with the truth?" Shiro averted his eyes, giving all of the confirmation that Rin needed. "Its all been a lie hasn't it? Everything about me is a lie. All those people who called me a demon, they were right weren't they?"

His head was pounding, and for the first time Saika's voice didn't sound soothing. It was screaming in his mind, reacting to his distress. The sword was screaming to let her cut them, let them feel her love and they wouldn't lie to him again. Rin shook his head, backing up a step when he sensed someone coming close. He tried to force his hands to unclench, but the second he did, he felt Saika start to slide into his palm. Rin clenched his hand again, his breathing sounding ragged in his own ears.

Rin didn't want to slash them, he didn't want to make them one of Saika's children. Despite everything, all of the lies that had been revealed, they were still his family. They were his family and a small, desperate part of him wanted to trust them. If they became Saika's children, he would never be able to trust them again. Yet he didn't know how long he'd be able to hold onto that rationality if he stayed.

He could hear Yukio saying something, but the words weren't making sense. Rin backed up another step before he threw Kurikara to the ground. Without pausing he turned and ran out of the church and through the gate. He was sure that the others were calling to him, but he couldn't hear anything over his own heart and Saika's screams.

Rin didn't care about the dangers that were waiting for him outside. He just knew he had to get away, he had to escape. He would rather take his chances with the demons outside than with the liars he called family or the demon that lived inside him.


	4. Into the Blue

Next chapter! So all of you wondering about whats going to happen to Shiro, your answers lie here. Thanks for all of the lovely reviews and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

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Yukio had never thought it was possible to actually _see_ someone's trust broken. Then father finally told Rin the truth. As Shiro spoke Yukio watched his brother and he swore he could see something break inside of Rin. As bad as that was, it was nothing compared to watching Rin find out that Yukio had known about it already. He could see that broken thing inside of Rin shatter completely as he finally spoke up.

It was painful to see it happen, the words Rin uttered even more painful to hear. Through it all, Yukio refused to look away, a small voice in his head reminding him that he deserved this. He had kept secrets from his brother, important secrets. He had expected the harsh words from his brother when he finally learned about it. Honestly he expected Rin to fly into some kind of rage at them over it all.

So the fact that Rin hadn't exploded in violence yet was worrying. He just stood there with his eyes hidden by his hair, fist clenched at his side. The hand flexed slightly before Rin clenched it again, and just for a second, Yukio thought he had seen his brother eyes turn red.

Cautiously he took a few steps down, approaching his brother. "Rin, look at me. Please brother... I'm sorry we kept it from you, we only wanted you to be safe. You're not a demon Rin, you're still human..."

Yukio could tell Rin wasn't really hearing his words, he just hoped the tone of his voice would reach his distraught sibling. Yukio was almost close enough to touch Rin when he suddenly backed up, actually flinching away from Yukio. Before he could do anything else Rin had thrown Kurikara down and was running from the church.

"Rin! Rin don't go out there!" Father was yelling now, running after Rin as he exited the church. "The demons are still waiting for you outside the barrier!"

Yukio sprinted after his brother as well, long legs covering distance quickly. However by this time Rin was already across the yard and running out the gate. Yukio spared a brief moment to curse his brother's impulsive, reckless behavior. Father had told him that the demons would be after him tonight!

"Yukio, follow after Rin, don't loose sight of him!" Yukio didn't spare any energy for acknowledging his father's orders. It was what he'd already planned to do. Even if he was upset that Rin had left, he would still work to make sure his brother was safe. Afterall, this was what he had been training for all these years. To protect his older brother from the demons that would take him away.

However there was one problem with the plan. Even though everyone praised Yukio's physical prowess and talked about how good he was at sports, there was one thing that always got overlooked. Yukio's strength was nothing compared to Rin's. Rin had always been the stronger, faster, and more athletic twin, his temperament just hadn't lent itself well to school sports so none of the teams had wanted him. That didn't change the fact that Rin was capable of running circles around everyone close to him, including Yukio.

In a situation like this, where Rin was going all out, Yukio wasn't able to keep up. He kept loosing Rin at corners, barely catching him before he disappeared again. When they reached one of the busier intersections of the city, he lost Rin completely. He was forced to stop before he ran into a group of girls. They started giggling as soon as they saw him, but Yukio didn't even notice.

"Damnit Rin... where did you go?" Yukio looked around before picking a direction and following it. As he did so, he pulled out his cell phone, calling the first number on his speed dial.

Rin honestly had not idea where he was going, he just knew he needed to get away. He took turns at random, and didn't even notice when he ran into people. The desire to get away before he did something he would never be able to take back was all that mattered. Saika's screams in his head weren't making it any easier to handle. He couldn't outrun Saika though, not that he ever really want to. He just wanted to drown out her voice for awhile, regain his ability to think clearly.

When Rin finally stopped running, he was in a part of the town he didn't know very well. There were several shops and he could hear music coming from somewhere. It was the music that made him straighten up from where he had been catching his breath.

It turned out there was a club across the street, the beat of the music so loud Rin feel it thrumming up his feet as he got nearer. Rin wanted to go inside and let it wash everything away. Of course he wasn't dressed for such a place, nor did he have the money for it. In fact Rin thought he might actually be too young to get inside. None of that mattered though, a quick slash from Saika across the doorman's hand and Rin was being ushered in without a word.

Inside the music was even louder, moving over Rin like a blissful wave. It drowned out Rin's thoughts, and he could feel Saika starting to calm down. Music, Rin had learned, didn't just calm savage beasts, it also calmed demon swords. The crush of people around him let Rin blend in and left him feeling like just another human in a group of more humans. Moving further into the gyrating mass of people, Rin closed his eyes and let himself get swept away.

"Young master..." The words were a low growl, but Rin to picked it up under the music. His eyes snapped open, looking around quickly to find where it came from. It wasn't difficult to spot Shiratori standing by one of the exits surrounded by those small black demons. The horns from earlier back on his head, showing that he had been possessed again. "Come with me young master, I will take you to your true father."

Rin scowled, watching the white haired demon from where he stood. "I don't want to go with you. I have no interest in whatever you want to tell me. I've had enough of fathers for one night." Rin started to turn away from him, intent on heading towards another exit.

"If you don't come with me young master, I will destroy every human in this place. I will use their blood to open the way to Gehenna. In that frail human form there is no way you could stop me."

A growl bubbled up from Rin's throat, before he let out a scoff. He definitely didn't want to go with this guy, but he also couldn't let all these people be killed because of it. "Fine, but we're going somewhere else." Rin stalked over the exit, following the demon outside. From the club it was a short walk to a nearby construction site that had been closed for the night. Nice and secluded which Rin was sure was the intention.

Rin stopped just inside the fence, crossing his arms as he stared at the demon. "I'm here now, what the hell do you want? I'm not going any further unless you have a damn good reason for all of this."

There was an inhuman grin stretching the demons face now. "We're going to meet your father, Lord Satan! He has been looking for you these many years, and finally we have found you. Together we shall return to Gehenna and I shall reap the rewards for returning our demon prince."

Shiro sometimes wondered what Yuri would think of how he'd raised her children. He hoped she'd be happy with how they were turning out, they were both good boys in their own ways. Fine humans if he said so himself. But there were times when he knew she'd beat the tar out of him for what he had done. And this, this was definitely one of those situations where she would have been angry with him.

He had always known that keeping the truth from Rin was going to blow up in his face. The only question was how bad the explosion would end up being. All things considered, Shiro thought this was probably about as bad as it could get. The sight of Rin's betrayed and hurt face was going to haunt Shiro for the rest of his life. He just prayed that he would find his son before he was dragged off to Gehenna.

Shiro tightened the grip he had on Kurikara, sending up a quick prayer to any god that would listen. Even if Rin forever hated him after tonight, if he never called him father again, just let Rin stay safe. Let him reach the boy before a more horrible fate met him. Shiro could live with Rin's anger and distrust, he wouldn't be able to live knowing Rin was dead or in Gehenna

It looked as though Shiro's prayer was answered when he caught sight of a familiar head of unruly black hair. He followed behind, frowning when he saw the boy from before. The stupid kid, he'd gotten possessed again, and most likely by the same demon. That meant that he would have to deal with Astaroth on his own until someone could arrive to back him up.

Shiro paused for a minute to send Yukio a quick message, praying his younger son was also safe. Once that was done, Rin and the demon were almost out of sight, leaving Shiro sprinting to catch up. He heard Astaroth talking, only catching part of the lies the demon was telling Rin. The part that was an experienced warrior told him he should look for the best way to launch a surprise attack, however that part was ruthlessly crushed under the part of him that was a father.

"Don't listen to him Rin." The sound of Shiro's voice made Rin start, slowly turning to face hm. Shiro tried not to be saddened by the look of surprise that crossed Rin's face. Instead he tightened his hold on Kurikara and the shot gun he'd brought from the monastery. "Once you leave Assiah for Gehenna, you will never be able to return."

"Curse you, exorcist! I will not allow you to interfere again! I am Astaroth, the King of Rot! Feel my power..."

Shiro braced himself for the onslaught, tossing Kurikara over to Rin. He didn't get a chance to see if he caught it, because suddenly there were ghouls everywhere. The ghouls were quickly followed by horrid mushrooms growing everywhere. Shiro pulled out a holy water grenade, watching as the water took down one wave of demons.

Long memorized fatal verses came to his lips without prompting, followed by the bang of the shot gun going off. As each of the demons fell, Shiro tried to work his way over to where Rin stood with a shocked expression on his face. The demons had been avoiding him, probably under orders from Astaroth to be sure he wasn't harmed.

"Curse you, curse you, curse you!" Astaroth was screaming now, growing in size until he was easily three times as large as they were. "I will not let you win exorcist! He is coming with me no matter what!" With that battle cry, Astaroth charged at Rin.

"Rin!" Shiro didn't remember telling his body to move, all he knew was that he had to get to Rin. He wouldn't let his son be taken, not before he had a chance to restore the broken bond between them. He threw himself at Rin, gasping as he felt something slice his side and down his leg as they fell to the ground.

"Old... old man?" Looking down into those incredibly wide blue eyes, Shiro couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Rin... you've got to run... Get somewhere safe until morning..." The pain was growing in intensity, lines of fire tracing up his side. He could see Rin shaking his head. "Take my phone... run... my son..."

Shiro couldn't hold out against the pain any longer. The world faded to gray and everything began to get black around the edges. There were voices there, he thought he even heard Yukio's voice. He was relieved to know his other son was safe. Yukio would make sure Rin went somewhere secure until the morning. Smiling to himself, Shiro let go of his faltering grip on consciousness.

Rin stared down at Shiro, at his father, has his eyes lost their focus. Even after everything that had happened, the old man had risked his life to protect him. Long gashes traced their way down his side and over his leg where he had gotten raked by Astaroth's claws. Rin felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, reaching out with one hand for the sword he had been given.

_Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love._ Saika's words seemed to echo his heartbeat, forming a syncopated rhythm. Carefully Rin began to move his father to the side, trying to be careful of his injuries. They didn't look fatal, but Rin honestly had no idea how things worked when the one who injured you was a demon.

"Rin! Father!" Yukio's voice broke through some of the shock, forcing Rin to look up. His twin came running over, a gun in one hand that he used to take shots at the demons as he ran. "Is father... is he?" Yukio's voice shook when he reached them, kneeling down next to Shiro.

"I don't know." Rin slowly got to his feet, using Kurikara to help him get up. He could see Astaroth laughing at them, something that only made Rin angrier. "Yukio, take care of him alright? He needs help." He began to slowly walk forward, fixing his eyes on Astaroth.

"Rin? Rin what are you going to do?" Yukio's voice was cracking, but he didn't try and follow. Rin was glad for that, Shiro needed him more.

"My young prince, are you finally ready to go home? I was just about to get the gate all prepared for you." The laughter came again, grinding on Rin's nerves.

"I'm not going with you, you sick freak." Rin spoke the words clearly, stopping several feet from the demon. He carefully lifted up the sword in front of him, contemplating it for a minute. "I'll never go with you."

That finlly made the demon stop laughing. "Cursed little brat, I've had enough playing nice with you. Since you won't come willingly, I'll take you by force!"

Rin smiled without humor, shifting his stance slightly. "You know, my whole life people have told me I was some kind of demon." Rin gripped Kurikara tightly, waiting for the best time to strike. "Seems they were right all along. So I guess its time for the outside to match the inside." _Ne, Saika? Would you still love me if I wasn't completely human? If I had to give it all up?_

As soon as Astaroth was in reach, Rin smoothly drew Kurikara, putting it into a ready position. For just a brief moment, everything was still.

_Saika loves Rin, no matter what._

Then, the world exploded into blue.

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And that is all. I don't write good fight scenes so I figured it would be best to leave it at that. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it. Also for all the people who left a response on Shiro's fate, I hope you liked it.


	5. Swallow Your Bitterness

Next chapter! I'm probably going to do weekly updates at the most. I don't like posting new chapters without having at least two more in queue to edit. This chapter is pretty much a lot of angst and dealing with the fall out of the last chapter. I also discovered that Mephisto can be hard to write.

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_I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. _- Friedrich Nietzsche

Yukio sat by his father's bedside trying to figure out rationally the events of the past several hours. He'd run to where Shiro said he had found Rin, only to find his father lying injured on top of his brother. The wounds that Astaroth had given had immediately shown signs of infection, the poison from the King of Rot making the flesh die quickly. Fortunately Yukio had some of the basic herbs to counteract it which had saved his father's leg and probably his life.

While he'd been treating his father's wounds though, Rin had stood up to face Astaroth. Against all instructions, Rin had drawn the Kurikara sword. Yukio had watched in astonishment as blue flames burst forth, the brother he had known for so long changing before his very eyes.

Even as the blue flames raged everywhere, Yukio and their father weren't touched by them. They engulfed everything else though, destroying the minions of Astaroth that were close by. All of this was secondary though, compared to Rin. Because Rin didn't hold Kurikara like someone who had no experience, instead his brother's grip was sure and he was in an easy stance. When Astaroth rushed him, Rin had smoothly ducked under the blow and slashed across his midsection before pivoting out of the way. All the movements Rin did spoke of experience and practice using a sword. It had almost been like watching Shura when she was fighting with the other Knights and taking it seriously.

For all of Rin's efforts though, Astaroth was not an easy opponent to beat alone. Thankfully tough the other exorcists showed up soon, helping to recite the verses that allowed them to exorcise Astaroth from the boy. It was a relief that they had been able to do that, because the only other option would have been to kill him. Once the demon was purged, Rin had resheathed his sword, the flames dying out around them. Rin had turned then, giving a weak smile before collapsing himself.

Yukio fought down an urge to panic, forcing his breathing to even out. He ordered the other exorcists to take care of the boy while Yukio called Sir Pheles for help. Father's injuries needed goo medical treatment and someone needed to check Rin as well. The head of True Cross Academy did not disappoint, showing up quickly in his monstrous pink limo to get them. Fortunately he had the foresight to bring another two doctors with him to help Yukio until they reached the hospital on campus that could take care of Shiro and Rin.

Now Yukio was sitting in a room in exorcist wing of the hospital, wondering what would happen. Shiro was asleep, they'd managed to save his leg, but it would be awhile before he was back to his full strength, given the damage. Yukio still hadn't been able to bring himself to look in on his brother. Sir Pheles had assured him that Rin was just exhausted from using his powers and would be back to normal with a day of rest.

He knew he should check on Rin, make sure he was truly ok, but every time Yukio closed his eyes, he just remembered his brother wreathed in demonic flames. Yukio wasn't frightened of his brother's new appearance, if anything he was angry. Father had told Rin never to unsheath Kurikara, that he wouldn't be able to go back to being human if he did. All Shiro had been doing all these years was to protect Rin,and then he just went and threw it all away.

"My dear boy, frown any harder and you'll get wrinkles." Mephisto's voice jolted Yukio out of his thoughts. The demon sauntered into the hospital room, sitting down on another chair. "I thought the doctors told you that you didn't need to worry about Shiro, he's going to make a full recovery."

"I know, I just wanted to stay with him until he woke up." Yukio said, looking down at his hands that were clenched in his lap.

"Such touching filial piety, I'm positively moved." Mephisto pulled out a bright pink hankerchief, dabbing at his eyes. "But really, there's no need to wait around here, Shiro probably won't wake for a few more hours. I must admit to being surprised that you haven't visited your dear brother yet."

Yukio clenched his jaw, working hard not to grind his teeth. "You said that brother was ok, that he just needed to rest. So I'm letting him rest, he doesn't need me to babysit him."

Mephisto was smirking, Yukio could feel it even if he couldn't see it. "Such confidence in your brother's recovery. I'm sure he's heartened knowing that." The grin grew wider, a fang flashing for a minute. "Never the less, I did come here because we do have some things to discuss. Of course I'll go over this all with Shiro as well once he wakes up."

There was a sick thump in Yukio's heart at those words, his mind racing to figure out what Mephisto was talking about. "What do mean, Sir Pheles?"

"As I'm sure you saw, your brother awakened his demonic powers saving you and Shiro. Because of that, he's now going to be an ever bigger target than before. Not just from other demons, but the Vatican is certain to get wind of this if nothing is done. Given Rin's parentage, that would mean a death sentence." Mephisto was resting his chin on an his palm, sharp eyes watching Yukio intently.

The anger Yukio had been suppressing before came back, making his skin feel hot and tight. It was followed just as quickly by worry over what would become of his brother. He had become and exorcist to protect his brother, he wasn't going to fail at the first opportunity. "What do you suggest we do Sir Pheles?"

The grin grew wider. "Pending Shiro's approval, I was going to suggest that Rin begin attending True Cross Academy, specifically the Exorcist Cram School. I'll take care of any fees and such, so you needn't worry about that."

"That doesn't make any sense! I thought we were trying to protect Rin from the Vatican, not put him right under their noses. They'll find out for sure about Rin if he goes to the cram school." Yukio was astonished by the suggestion, it seemed like complete foolishness.

Mephisto straightened up, tapping his gaudy umbrella on the floor. "Its perfect actually. No one will look for the son of Satan in an exorcism class. Plus with him on the True Cross campus we can keep him protected. The exorcists there answer to me first, plus the wards will keep any higher level demons from causing a ruckus like Astaroth did. It will also give Rin a chance to learn to control his abilities. Don't you agree Shiro?"

Yukio's head jerked up, turning towards his father who let out a weak laugh. "Never was any fooling you for long Mephisto." Shiro slowly opened his eyes a crack, taking in the room around him. "Hospital huh?"

"Father! Are you ok? Do you need more of the pain medication?" Yukio stood up, moving to hover by his father's bed.

"I'm fine Yukio, can barely feel anything. Probably a good thing given what I remember." He turned his head slightly, looking at his son. "Tell me what happened with Rin, Yukio. Judging from what you were discussing it wasn't anything good.

Yukio swallowed, calling on all of his exorcist training to give a brief report. He made sure to mention how Rin had released the flames to stop a rampaging Astaroth and Rin's great skill with using the sword.

When it was over Shiro let out a tired sigh, his face turning a bit more gray. "So he unleashed his powers..." He smiled a bit. "At least he did it for a good reason."

Yukio wanted to argue with his father about that. He didn't think it was a good reason. They could have handled it without Rin using his demonic powers. It might have been harder, but Yukio knew he could have at least held out until the other exorcists reached them. "What are we going to do with Rin now?"

Shiro let out a shaky breath, wincing slightly as he turned to look at Mephisto. "You said you wanted Rin to attend True Cross? Become an exorcist?"

"Indeed Shiro. I'm sure you can see all of the advantages to such a situation. Protection, the opportunity to control his powers, a place where he can be thoroughly watched in safety." Mephisto tapped his umbrella lightly. "Plus he'll be close by while you recover from your injuries. Don't you think it's a marvelous idea?"

"I don't agree." Yukio couldn't keep quiet about it anymore. "It might be best for him to be on the campus, but Rin hates school. He would never agree to going there or to becoming an exorcist." Yukio felt his hands clenching at his sides as he spoke.

There was an airy laugh as Mephisto leaned back. "Perhaps you should go and ask him. Either way the decision may just be taken out of his hands. Unless you think that you alone can protect him from all the minions that Satan will send after him."

"Yukio." Shiro's voice was quiet, growing hoarse. "I agree with Mephisto. Now that Rin has awoken to his powers, we can't keep him safe at the monastery. True Cross Academy is the safest place for him. We just have to convince Rin that it's for the best."

Mephisto gave a happy clap before standing up, smirking at Yukio. "Then its settled, I'll begin making the preparations at once! Yukio, your father needs to rest now, so why don't you go and visit your brother? After all you said you were just waiting for Shiro to wake up. You can let him know the good news."

Yukio let out a scoff, turning away. He hated what Mephisto was saying, hated even more that it was all making sense. It felt like he was suffocating under all of these conflicting emotions. He needed to get away from Sir Pheles and get himself back under control. Since Mephisto didn't look like he would be leaving any time soon, despite his talk about making preparations, that meant that Yukio would have to leave. Leaving his father's room meant there was only one other place he could go, which was what the demon had intended. "Thank you, for all of your assistance Sir Pheles. If you'll excuse me."

"Not a problem dear boy, not a problem." Mephisto's laughter followed Yukio out of the room. When Yukio finally untensed his jaw, there was a jolt of dull pain down his cheeks. He sincerely hoped that grinding his teeth would not become a habit.

Rin didn't want to wake up. Not because he was having particularly nice dreams, he didn't really have dreams anymore. He just didn't want to face the world around him. He would just rather listen to Saika sing than open his eyes and face his new reality.

What eventually forced him to open his eyes was the feeling of something twitching against his leg. Rin let his eyes open, staring at a blank white ceiling. He knew that he was in some kind of hospital, he could only guess that he had passed out after slicing up that Astaroth demon.

With a groan Rin worked himself into a sitting position, wincing a bit as sore and new muscles pulled at him. Carefully, he began to take stock of the changes to his body. Rin started by feeling his head, glad when he didn't find any horns or other protrusions, but he did have pointy ears now. "Great, now I'm going to look like an elf." The words were slightly slurred, and Rin quickly discovered it was because he had some teeth. The most obvious change though was the long black tail that was thumping lightly on the bed. "Well... this is gonna be awkward." Rin muttered, practicing moving the new appendage.

Despite all of the changes though, for the first time that he could remember, Rin felt complete. It was like there had been a part of him missing that he hadn't been aware of until it was suddenly back where it should have been. Maybe he wouldn't look completely normal, but he could live with that. It wasn't exactly like he was known for his dashing good looks, that was Yukio's territory.

_Rin is better this way. Rin was supposed to be this way._

Rin let out a laugh at that, leaning back. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Looking around the room, Rin confirmed that he was in fact alone in the room. It sent a small pang through his chest that Yukio wasn't there. He hoped that Yukio was with their father, that he had made it through.

_Rin is worried, don't worry. Father is ok, the wounds were treated before the poison could take effect. Saika heard them talking while Rin slept._

"Thanks Saika." Rin let out a slow breath, glancing to the other side of his bed. That was when he saw it, Kurikara propped up against the side of bed. Reached over he pulled it onto his lap, staring at it intently. "So now I have to get used to wielding this sword and you."

_That means more training for us. Wielding two swords is different than just one, and each sword is different. Kurikara is a very different sword, it can't speak to you, but it holds very important powers._

"Yeah, a part of me I didn't know was missing is in here. But the prospect of more training..." Saika was very skilled at swordplay, with perhaps hundreds of years of experience behind it. It had insisted that Rin needed to learn how to fight properly before it would even contemplate letting Rin wield it. Now he would have to go through that all over again.

_Kurikara contains Rin's power sealed inside. Now that the seal is broken, Rin has his power back. Rin might even start growing properly._

"Wait a minute, you're saying that this is the reason I'm so short? Because my power was sealed inside?" Rin sat up straighter at that, glaring at the sword.

_Power is part of growth, with part of you sealed away not all of you can grow. Now you can grow._

"One benefit out of this to be grateful for then." Rin set Kurikara on the bed next to him before laying back down. He turned on his side, feeling his tail flicking idly behind him. "I wonder what will happen now..." Rin let his eyes drift close again. "Ne, Saika? Can you sing for me?"

_Saika loves humans. I love all humans. I want to show the humans my love. I love Rin. I love humans. I love humans, I love all humans. I love Rin the most._

Rin let himself sort of float in his mind. He wasn't able to completely fall back asleep, but he let himself relax in the bed. He was purposefully keeping his mind from thinking about anything that had happened the other night. Because every time he did, his heart squeezed in his chest and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

The sound of the door opening broke him from his trance, forcing his eyes open. Rin met his twin's eyes and suddenly all of the things he had tried not to think about came flooding into his mind. The truth of who he was, that it had been kept a secret by everyone and the intense feeling of betrayal that had brought. Beyond all of that, there was the look of surprise and barely suppressed disgust on Yukio's face when he had seen Rin transformed.

"You're awake." Yukio stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "I thought you might still be sleeping, you pushed yourself hard last night."

Rin was quiet for a minute before looking away. "Thank you for your concern. I'm fine though." He carefully pushed himself up, letting a hand brush over Kurikara's hilt. "Was wondering when they'd let me go."

A frown crossed Yukio's face as he walked over to the bed. "No one's been in to check on you?" Without waiting for the response he began to check Rin over.

"Not that I've seen. Maybe I scare them now." Rin smiled, but there wasn't any humor behind it. "Besides, I've always healed fast, guess I know why now." He watched as his younger brother skillfully avoided his eyes. There were a dozen questions that Rin wanted to ask, he didn't think he'd get answers to half of them. Best to start with something small. "How's Dad?"

There was a pause, and even though he wasn't looking, Rin knew his brother was adjusting his glasses. "He woke up but he was obviously in pain. The doctors said he'll recover, but it will take a lot of time."

Rin felt some of the tightness in his chest ease at the news. He was still upset about what had happened, but that didn't mean he wanted to see the old man hurt. "That's good. I was worried when he was injured."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say for some reason, because he could feel Yukio's glare trying to burn him alive. There was a moment of heavy silence before Yukio swallowed whatever he really wanted to say, changing the subject. "When you're released, you're going to be attending True Cross Academy. Father and the principal think you'll be safest there. On top of normal classes you're going to begin training to be an exorcist, so you can control your flames."

Rin whipped his head around to look at Yukio, mouth dropping open slightly. "No. No way, I don't have the grades to go to a school like. And become an exorcist? What the hell does that even mean?!"

"It means brother, that you're going to be trained to exorcise and battle demons. You're going to attend the school because you need an excuse to even be there." Yukio crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down at Rin. "None of this would have been necessary if you hadn't drawn Kurikara in the first place. Now you're going to have to face the consequences of your actions. For once."

Anger flared through Rin, hot and bright leaving tingles in its wake. He could feel his flames wanting to explode out, to express his anger at his brother's words. Instead, Rin gripped Kurikara until his knuckles turned completely white with the strain. "Is that what you think this will be?" Rin focused on breathing, refusing to look at his brother. If he did, he knew he would loose it. "Who's idea was this anyway?"

"Sir Pheles, the principal of the school, had the original idea. But Father agreed with him. With your awakened powers, more demons will be after you. True Cross has powerful barriers in place to protect it. So it can keep you safe." Yukio's voice was perfectly calm as he explained it all, like the information was so obvious Rin should have recognized the logic already. In reality though, it served to piss Rin off even more.

"So Father, you, and some clown I haven't even met have decided my future for me?" Rin was struggling to kept the worse of what he wanted to say locked behind his own teeth. "Don't I get some kind of say?"

Yukio didn't respond immediately, when he did there was a tired quality in his voice. "Its to protect you Rin. All of this has always been to protect you."

Rin turned away from Yukio, pulling the blanket over himself. He grit his teeth, fighting to keep more words from spilling out. His life for the next several years had just been decided for him, without anyone consulting him. On top of that, his little brother was acting like he was some kind of ungrateful, spoiled brat for not being appreciative of it.

The tension and silence between them of stretched to fill the entire room. Neither of the brother's seemed willing to break the silence. Rin didn't trust himself to speak, afraid of what would come out of his mouth. However the silence couldn't last forever, and Rin was eventually the one who broke it. "How long do I have to stay in here?"

Yukio let out a sigh, before responding. "The doctor said you could be released tomorrow. They want you to rest another day. When you're released, we can pack your things."

"Wonderful." Rin stared out the window. "Think they'll let me leave early?"

"I'll see what I can do for you brother."

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All feedback welcome and appreciated! Also I hope everyone that wanted Shiro to live are satisfied. :)


	6. Brother's Keeper

So this chapter has more angst between Rin and Yukio. It was kind of hard to write mostly because I found the episode Brothers very hard to watch. Conflicting urges to hug and smack the both of them. I also tend to feel that the whole thing was unfair to Rin who wasn't given enough credit for not just going completely bug nuts after everything that happened.

Also thanks again for all the lovely reviews and support!

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Rin stood outside the monastery, Kurikara in a sleeve on his back with a duffle at his feet. He was waiting for the ride Mephisto had said would show up to take them to True Cross Academy. He wanted to get this over with and start moving on with things, like figuring out what his life was going to be like now. All the physical changes had been easy to deal with, except the tail. The damn thing wanted to move all the time and it wouldn't stay still no matter what he did. Eventually he'd gotten it to curl around his chest and to be sure he'd actually tied it into place.

Unfortunately in the days since the incident nothing had settled down for him. There was a lot of tension between Yukio and himself. When they spoke to each other there was an excruciating sense of politeness about it. It felt like they were strangers, and maybe in a way they were now. So much had changed and been revealed that Rin didn't know what to think most of the time. Consequently he'd been working on not thinking about it at all.

There were times it was hard, especially when he visited his father. Rin tried to only go when he knew the Old Man was asleep. He wasn't sure he could face his father yet, too many things were bouncing in his head that he might regret letting loose. He was sure that someone would say it wasn't good to keep it all bottled up, but Rin didn't care.

Letting out a sigh, Rin looked up, wondering again where their ride was. He stopped wondering though, when a monstrously pink limo pulled up in front of the monastery. Rin's jaw fell as he took it in, rubbing his eyes to be sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"I see Sir Pheles has finally arrived." Yukio's calm voice jolted Rin out of his stupor, turning to face his brother.

"This is for real then? There is actually a gaudy pink limo in front of us?"

There came a snort from behind them. "I take offense to that Rin. My limo is certainly not gaudy. I happen to think its perfect." Mephisto was leaning out the door, smirking at them.

"Given the way you dressed I am not surprised." Rin sighed, climbing into the car and picking a seat to settle into. He watched as Yukio climbed in as well, taking the seat across from him and immediately burying his nose in a notebook.

Rin assumed that meant that they were going to continue pretending not to speak, which was fine with him really. He pulled his headphones out of his bag, pulling them on. As the sounds of Uverworld came through his ears, he let himself close his eyes.

Nothing else was said until the car rolled to a stop in front of what Rin decided had to be the most ridiculously giant school he had ever seen. It was hard to believe there were enough rich kids in all of Japan to fill it up. Then again, if he was going to an exorcist school here, there was definitely more to it than a regular high school.

"Here we are, the center of the True Cross Academy! The start of your glorious academic careers!" Mephisto was making grand gestures, but Rin just thought he looked like a pantomiming clown. "Now Rin, you need to change into your uniform. Yukio can go on ahead."

Everything else was a bit of a blur, mostly because Rin couldn't be bothered to pay attention to it. He watched Yukio make his speech as the class representative, proud of his little brother even if he had expected it. Yukio accepted nothing less than the best from himself no matter what. The rest of the tour though, Rin barely paid attention to. It was more amusing to listen to Saika's excited diabtribe about all of the people around the, all of the humans available for her to love.

It wasn't until the end of the tour that he noticed the little Scotty dog that was following behind him. He studied it for a minute, before letting out a breath. "They said pets weren't allowed in here, and I doubt anyone would have brought such an obnoxious pet with them just to let it roam around. So what are you?"

"Very perceptive. It makes me wonder why everyone thinks your stupid." The voice was familiar but the pitch was different. It darted by him, grabbing at the hem of his pants with a tug. Rin sighed, following after it until they were on a secluded path on the expansive grounds. With a puff of pink smoke, Mephisto stood in front of him. "I do apologize for the deception, but as director I can't be seen just wandering around you know."

Rin crossed his arms, giving Mephisto a bored look. "So what did you bring me out here for?" Only the reflexives honed by years with Saika allowed Rin to catch the key thrown at him.

"That key will let you into the cram school from any door with a lock. Classes start today and we don't want to be late!" Mephisto's voice was far too perky for Rin's nerves. He followed him to the door, testing out the key.

It was certainly strange, to go from being outside to a hall that was impossible huge. Rin stared around. "Ok, I'll admit it, I'm impressed." The colored glass and tapestries lent it a very rich feel, definitely setting the right atmosphere for a exorcism school.

"I'm glad something has finally manged to impress you. Now your room is 1106, and I'm sure you realized it already but it does bear repeating. No one can know of your heritage. You can say whatever you want about your looks, but no flames if you don't want to suddenly find yourself the target of all the exorcists on campus."

Rin nodded, following Mephisto through the maze of halls. This time he actually paid attention to where he was going, memorizing the turns. When they reached the door he stared at it intently before looking at Mephisto. "Thanks for bringing me here."

There was that smirk again. "Not a problem. Oh, I'll also be sitting in on your first class, discretely of course. Ein. Zwei. Drei!" Mephisto snapped his fingers, transforming into the dog again.

_I officially know too many weird people_. Rin thought despondently as he opened the doors. Looking at the people inside, HIS would be his classmates, Rin let out another sigh. _I think I'm going to be knowing a whole lot more._

_So many people, Saika loves them all. I love all of the people here, I want to show them my love. Please Rin, let me love them..._

_No Saika. If they're here then they're exorcists too, or at least trying to be. I don't want to draw attention to myself or you if I don't have to._ Rin walked over to a seat without acknowledging anyone, plopping down and putting his elbows on the table. He ignored Mephisto jumping onto the chair next to him, instead he put his chin in his hand and wondered just what exactly exorcism class would be like.

Out of boredom Rin studied his classmates. He started with the two girls who were huddled together, noting the one with the weird eyebrows. Then he tracked over to the three boys sitting together and talking. Obviously they were friends or at least acquaintances prior to all of this. The other two people were harder to figure out, one was covered by a hoody and the other was playing with... a hand puppet? "Too damned weird..." Rin muttered softly.

The sound of the door opening had all of the students looking up as the teacher came in. Rin felt his eyes narrow as he saw Yukio, of all people, enter the room. He had changed from earlier, he was now wearing a long coat wit the now familiar heart and cross pin on the lapel. His brother also had a briefcase which he set down on the teacher's desk.

Rin didn't miss the fact that Yukio was being very careful not to look at him as he moved in front of the class and began to speak. "I'm your instructor, Okumura Yukio. I teach Anti-Demon Pharmaceuticals, I will also be your homeroom instructor. Although I'm the same age I've been studying exorcism since I was seven, and I am a certified exorcist with a rank of middle-first class."

Yukio kept speaking, but Rin had tuned him out after the introduction. Rin hadn't actually thought that he could be shocked any longer by what his family had kept from him. Evidently he was wrong, because he'd had no idea about this. He had gathered from the incident with Astaroth that Yukio had some experience with exorcisms, but he never would have guessed it went back that far. That they had kept it from him for so long...

He clenched his hands on the table, fighting back the toxic mix of emotions that was pushing through him. This time though, Rin couldn't get the lid to settle back on his emotions. Everything was trying to come up and he just focused on keeping it from exploding.

"I'll be summoning a few goblins with this rotten animal blood. It excites goblins but don't worry, as a qualified exorcist I will be sure not to let anything happen." Yukio continued to speak in that calm, placid tone of his. Normally Rin admired that about his brother, but this time it was just making him angrier.

When he knew he wasn't going to be able to take it anymore Rin stood up, walking forward and grabbing Yukio by his collar. "We need to talk." The words were a growl, his teeth clenched in an effort to retain his few pitiful bits of control.

"I'm in the middle of class, please control yourself until the end." Yukio finally dropped his nice tone and stared blankly at his brother.

Rin met his brother's gaze without flinching. "Now, Yukio." He wasn't shouting, he wasn't being overly dramatic, and perhaps that was the best indication of how close he was to loosing it. Because Rin was an emotional person, when he felt something people generally knew about it.

"I guess there's no avoiding it then." Yukio spoke up, turning to the class. "It seems Mr Okumura and I have some things to discuss that can't wait. If everyone could please step outside, I'll call you back when we are finished."

There was grumbling and a few questions from the students as they filed out. Neither brother paid attention to them, their eyes locked on each other. When the door clicked shut behind the last student, Rin forced himself to let go of his brother's coat.

"Let me guess, this is another secret you and the Old Man were keeping from me? Was this one for my protection too? Another thing for you and him to do behind my back?" All of the emotions that Rin had been swallowing down, all the pains he'd dealt with through the years, it all came back now. "I guess I've finally found out about your cram school Yukio. Why the Old Man had to go with you all those times but I was told to stay home." Every time he had walked home alone because Yukio had to go cram school, barely seeing them at times and to know that it was all about this.

"Don't you think you're over reacting Rin?" Yukio's voice was that same quiet, calm voice he had used in the hospital. "Whatever Father did, or I did, was out of the desire to be sure you were protected. Given your heritage and behavior it wasn't always an easy task. Something you just made harder by drawing Kurikara."

Rin felt another thread of his control snap. He took a step back to keep himself from hitting his brother, something he had always sworn he would never do. "That's a joke. Weren't you the one telling me to take responsibility the other day? Well how about you taking responsibility for lying to me this whole time!" In frustration Rin slammed his hand on the desk, unintentionally knocking off the vial of blood.

The sound of the vial shattering seemed abnormally loud in the room. Immediately there was an explosion from the ceiling, little green balls suddenly flying everywhere. Rin was just getting ready to duck a group of them when there was the loud and rapid report of a gun being fired. Turning he found his brother holding a pistol in each hand, calmly aiming at the green balls.

"They're just goblins, nothing too dangerous. Just go outside with the others and I'll take care of them. It'll be easier to take care of without you in the way." There was some heavily implied blame in that. Yukio obviously felt this was another incident Rn had caused that he had to clean up after.

"Screw that!" Rin shouted, grabbing Kurikara and putting his hand on the hilt. "I'm sick and tired of you and the Old Man acting like I need to be protected." He drew the sword, feeling the blue flames cloak his body. Rin quickly fell into the familiar sword stance, slicing through a line of goblins that closed in on him.

"Why Rin? Why do you insist on making this more difficult." Yukio asked, aiming and taking out another line of goblins. "First father gets injured and then you do the exact opposite of what he told you!"

Rin snarled, pivoting on his foot and rapidly slashing several more of the goblins. "I didn't mean for him to get injured! And I wasn't going to just sit there and let you or him get hurt again!"

Yukio fired behind himself and then at one in front of him. "I could have handled it Rin. I've been training all this time so that I can protect you from things like that!"

Suddenly, in the midst of a fight against little green blobs, Rin was struck by the ridiculousness of it all. He started to laugh, shaking his head a bit. There was a lull in the goblins and he could feel the incredulous looks he was receiving.

"All this time everyone's been telling me you're the smart one Yukio. You're certainly not proving it." Rin walked over, grabbing his brother by his shoulder and making sure the younger boy was looking at him. "I don't need a protector Yukio. I don't need you or Dad trying to wrap me in wool and hide me away from everything." Rin pulled his brother behind him so they were standing back to back. "What I really need is my brother, someone who's got my back. We're brothers, we're supposed to fight together. Because I wanted to protect you too, that's why I did it."

He heard Yukio let out a soft chuckle behind him. "I guess we're bother idiots then. Working so hard to protect each other that we end up almost tearing each other apart."

Rin gave another laugh. "Well its to be expected I guess, we are twins after all." He straightened up. "Hey Yukio..." Rin waited until he felt Yukio shift behind him, taking in the giant goblin that now stood in front of Rin. "What do you say? I go high you go low?"

There a quiet scoff behind him, followed by the sound of guns being cocked. "Not a chance. I go high, you go low."

Rin grinned in response. "Works for me." He dashed forward, slashing the goblin across it's mid section twice. He heard shots ring out behind them, but he trusted his brother to hit his target. It was good, to feel like he could trust Yukio again. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

Once everyone came back into the classroom and it was cleaned up, class picked up where it had ended. Everything else was uneventful, but Rin didn't really try to pay attention to any of it. He noted the assignments down for later but mostly let his mind wander.

After classes were finished Rin finally got his dorm assignment, making his way to the old building. When he made it to 602 and opened the door, it wasn't quite what he had expected. "Kind of rundown. Is this really a rich kid's school?"

"A bit surprising isn't it?" Yukio's voice made Rin jolt. His brother strolled in front of him and into the room. "I convinced them to let us room together, it'll be almost like old times won't it? Plus, we have the whole building to ourselves."

Rin sighed, walking over to one side of the room. "Not bad, I kind of prefer it that way. Too many people just get in the way. Plus, that means I can do this." Rin loosened the binding holding his tail in place, he stretched the new limb out behind him.

Yukio watched the tail for a minute before shaking his head. "Since there are not distractions, you won't have any objection to getting started on that homework then?"

"You're going to be a task master about that aren't you?" Rin groaned, throwing himself on one of the beds.

"Well I am a teacher, it reflects badly on me if you don't do well." Yukio pushed his glasses up calmly. "So be prepared to work hard."

Rin let out another groan. "This is why I didn't want to go to high school."

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An there you have it. Reviews are greatly appreciated and impetus to keep writing! Stay tuned for next week's update.


	7. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Next chapter! I can't guarantee that I'll be able to update next week. I'm getting ready for a convention and I need to get my panel stuff together as well. Hopefully there will be an update, but it might be kind of short. Also as for the chapter title, if anyone can figure it out you'll get... extra brownie points?

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School had been going for just under a month now. Yukio thought that he and Rin had settled in fairly well. It was strange to be living away from the monastery, but then again it was similar because it was still the two of them in a room together. Granted it was a slightly larger room and they were pretty much all on their own there, but it worked best for them.

The relationship between them was still a little strained though. They would always be close, but getting back to where they had been would take a lot of time and effort. Sometimes Yukio wondered if they had ever been as close as they had both believed. He decided it didn't matter though, they were forming a new relationship that would be better than the first.

Provided of course, Yukio could find his brother. Rin wasn't in their room lazing around like Yukio had expected. He wasn't in the bathroom, the dining area or any other place that Yukio checked. That just left the roof, which Yukio supposed he should have checked first. Rin did have a fondness for roofs and high places after all.

When he reached the roof, Yukio was surprised at what he found. Rin was standing there in just a pair of loose sweat pants, holding an unsheathed Kurikara. The blue fire surrounded Rin, but he didn't seem to notice. He even had his headphones on as he moved around doing what seemed to be sword drills. Rin would go through a series of complicated moves, then pause as if were listening to something and then go through another set of movements entirely.

Rin reminded Yukio of a tiger, sleek muscles flexing and pulling with simple but deadly movements. The tail helped with the image, the way it swished and adjusted to compensate for Rin's balance. Yukio wondered how long his brother had been studying kendo. He knew that Rin claimed that _Saika_ taught him, but Yukio wasn't sure he trusted that. He certainly didn't trust this Saika person that Rin had never let him meet.

Watching as Rin seemed to glisten from sweat and his flames was made Yukio uncomfortable. He needed to get his brother's attention quickly, but he didn't dare get close in case Rin accidentally attacked him. He flashed back to what had happened the last time he had snuck up on his brother when he was holding something sharp.

Reaching down, Yukio picked up a pebble from the ground. He bounced it in his hand for a minute before nodding slightly. Bringing his arm back, he threw it at his brother, aiming for his head. Yukio had great aim, the pebble flew on a direct path until Rin turned, grabbing the pebble right before it hit. Looking down at the object, Rin had such a puzzled look that Yukio couldn't help but start laughing.

"Oi! Its not funny Yukio! Why are you throwing rocks at me anyway?" Rin's voice was as loud and aggressive as ever. He let out a scoff before tossing the pebble aside when he didn't get an answer. He walked over to where he had left Kurikara's sheath and sleeve, carefully storing the sword away. "Anytime Yukio..."

Yukio straightened up, lowering the hand that had been covering his mouth. "Sorry about that Rin, I just didn't know how else to get your attention. You were off in your own little world."

There was a moment of silence as Rin picked up a towel he had left nearby. "Yeah I know, sorry about that. I just get really focused when I work with a sword and the rest of the world kinda fades away." Rin grinned at his brother putting the towel around his neck before reaching for his water bottle. "So what's going on Yukio? Not like you to seek me out for no reason."

Yukio pushed his glasses up before crossing his arms across his chest. "I did have a reason for coming up here. Did you finish your homework?" Yukio barely managed to hold back his laughter when Rin spit out his water.

"Homework! You came all the way up here to ask about that?! Geez you're some kind of slave driver Yukio. Yes I finished it all, even that remedial crap you gave me. And if you're here to give me more you can just leave."

Yukio did chuckle then, unable to hold it in. "No I'm not. I actually came to tell you I'm going out for a bit. I got a request to do an exorcism that I have to take care of." He straightened then, turning towards the door. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours, behave yourself while I'm gone."

"Yukio!" There was a sound of rushing footsteps and suddenly Yukio sensed his brother behind him. "Let me come with you. I'm dying of boredom being cooped up here or in the school."

"You're not authorized for combat Rin. You're just a page after all, and you've only been that for a month." Yukio kept his gaze forward, heading towards the room to get his things.

Rin huffed, following him into the room and going over to get fresh clothes. "Authorizations for combat are kind of moot in my case don't you think? Besides I'm a kinesthetic learner, I get more out of fieldwork than bookwork."

There was a certain amount of truth in what Rin was saying. He'd already fought a higher level demon than any of his classmates had encountered, higher than some fully authorized exorcists had faced. Also given his brother's unique circumstances it wasn't as if he would really be in danger on this assignment. It was pretty straightforward actually and well below something Yukio would normally handle. He'd volunteered to do it as a favor. Giving Rin some practical experience would probably help his brother's studies too.

"Alright you can come, but you pay attention to what I say, don't go off on your own and you are there strictly to observe. If anything happens because of you, I'm the one who will have to take the blame."

"Yes, yes. I swear Yukio, sometimes you have the attitude of an old man." Rin pulled on his school jacket, leaving it unbuttoned while he adjusted his tie. "So where are we going?"

Yukio held up a large yellow key. "The supply shop. I need to pick up some things first." Yukio inserted it into the lock in their room, opening the door onto the stone bridge that led out to the small island the supply shop was on. For the most part he ignored how Rin looked at everything in awe. Everyone had that response the first time so it was hardly noteworthy.

"So all these keys, they're like warp points in a game that let you go from place to place without walking right? That is so cool."

"Actually Rin, they're to help avoid all of the traps and wards that Sir Pheles has put around the school. This place is a big base of operations for the Knights of the True Cross after all. There are a multitude of keys for getting to places, the more trusted and experienced you are, the more keys you are issued."

"Huh, going by the amount you have, guess you're a big shot. Come to think of it, the Old Man always had one of those big key rings on him too."

Yukio smiled, glad that Rin was finally able to talk about their father. In the past few weeks Yukio had tried to bring up the subject, but Rin had refused to respond. The only reason he knew that his brother was visiting him was because the nurse at the hospital mentioned how Rin always came in at night after Shiro was asleep. "Yeah he did. Rin... have you talked to father at all since that night?"

Rin looked away, a scowl crossing his features. His hands tightened into fists inside his pants pocket, holding himself back. "Not really. I'm not sure I'm ready to speak with him. Besides, he's usually asleep when I go there anyway. Since he's injured, it wouldn't be right to disturb him."

Yukio sighed a bit, wanting to push Rin on the subject. Father asked after Rin every time Yukio went in to see him. The recovery was slow, Astaroth's poison had spread quite a bit and had to be drawn out before Shiro could really begin to heal. It meant slower than normal healing for the wounds. Father didn't show any sign of being bothered by it though, he just laughed and talked about all the cute nurses he got to see now.

Before Yukio could properly formulate a response, they were standing in front of the stairs leading up to the shop and the garden. "I'm going to get the supplies, stay here and don't touch anything Rin. I mean it."

Rin let out a sigh, leaning back against the railing. "You mean don't get in trouble. Why can't I go in the shop with you?"

"Only certified exorcists are allowed in. It won't take me long, its just some basic supplies I've been needing to get." Yukio gave his brother a brief smile before going up the stairs. He accepted the shopkeepers greetings before he started to go into the list of items he needed. When he was done he noticed the woman smiling a bit.

"Buying in bulk again? Used up all of your supplies already? Not that I'm complaining, you're one of our best customers."

Yukio sighed a bit. "Unexpected situations caused me to have to use more than I expected." Yukio was quiet for a minute as she moved to fill the order. "How is Shiemi doing? Any change?"

The good will the woman had seemed to completely evaporate at the question. "She gets a little worse each day, her legs aren't moving very well. She's says it doesn't hurt, and no doctor has been able to figure out what's wrong with them. Its just been one bad turn after another this year. First her grandmother passed, and now Shiemi can barely walk."

Yukio frowned a bit, watching the woman. "Do you think it could be a demon? Has Shiemi told you anything?"

A tired sigh came from the woman as she finished getting the items together. "We're not exactly speaking at the moment."

Yukio smiled a little bit, understanding the woman's pain. He imagined it was a lot like what father was going through.

Rin waited until he saw Yukio disappear into the shop. He slowly let a grin spread over his face as he looked around. "Now then, what's say we look around a bit?"

_Humans, Saika senses a human. Saika loves humans. Saika wants to love a human. _

Rin let out a helpless laugh, walking swiftly up the second set of stairs. There was a wrought iron gate at the end of the path, which led into the most beautiful garden Rin had ever seen. It was positively vibrant with color. Without really thinking about it, Rin placed a hand on the gate, wanting to try and get into the garden.

However when he touched it, Rin felt something like an electrical jolt got up his arm and his whole body. It was followed by a flash of blue and the sound of half the gate crashing down onto the stone walkway. The caused a blonde head to pop up from amongst a bed of flowers, wide green eyes focusing on Rin.

"Ah, sorry I didn't mean to do that. Not sure what happened, uh give me a moment and I'll fix it." Rin stepped into the garden, moving to side and bending over to pick up the fallen gate.

"D-demon! The gate is warded against demons! Don't come in!" She turned, obviously trying to get away from him.

Rin would never be known for his patience or his cool thinking in tense situations, especially not when his temper was involved. Given everything that had happened recently, he honestly though his reaction to being called a demon by someone he didn't even know was amazingly calm. "WHO THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU CALLING A DEMON!? Its not my fault your crummy gate fell down when I touched it and it doesn't make me a demon! You shouldn't just call people that without knowing anything about them!" Rin's feet had carried him over to her, his anger fueling him until it suddenly sputtered and died when he saw her fall. She got up and tried to move away again only to fall another time. "Uhm, what's wrong with your legs? Do you need some help?" Rin cautiously crouched down in front of her, trying to smile.

The girl looked up at him, sniffling slightly but seeming calmer. She sniffled a bit more, staring at him for a minute. "Yeah, can you help me dig a hole?"

As far as requests go, it was definitely strange, but Rin wasn't going to argue. He dug the hole to the girl's specifications, watching as she retrieved a bucket of something that smelled horrible. She said something about cow dung and water being mixed together. All Rin could think was where on earth did she get the cow dung? They weren't exactly in the middle of a farm here.

"I'm sorry about earlier, you just surprised me. I don't really think you're a demon." She gave him a sweet smile, before holding up one small hand. "Can we start over? You really seem like a nice person."

Rin blinked, but managed a small smile of his own, taking the offered hand. "Yeah, sorry about yelling at you like that." He did his best to ignore the face that she had obviously used her hands for mixing the fertilizer."

"It's ok. I guess I should introduce myself then. I'm Moriyama Shiemi, and you are?"

"Okumura Rin." He carefully drew his hand back. He could feel Saika's excitement in his mind and he was afraid that he moved suddenly the sword would try to slash Shiemi. "Your garden is really beautiful."

"It was my grandmother's, she taught me everything I know about gardening. She died last winter in an accident." She looked down at her lap, blinking quickly. "I'm sure she's gone ahead to the Garden of Amahara."

Rin tilted his head to the side. "The Garden of Amahara? I've never heard of that, is it like the Garden of Eden?"

Shiemi shook her head, looking back up at him. "It's supposed to be God's own garden, where he gathered all of the plants in the world. Its probably just a fairy tale, but I'd like to think that its real and that I could go there some day."

Before Rin could respond, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Letting out a silent sigh, Rin braced himself for Yukio's response. "Rin? What are you doing here? You were supposed to wait for me." Yukio had come down another set of stairs, followed by a stout woman in a blue kimono.

"I got bored, you didn't really expect me to just stand around and wait for you, did you Yukio?"

"Yuki! What are you doing here?" Shiemi's excited response had Rin staring at her in surprise.

"You guys know each other?" Rin asked, eyes darting between the two of them.

Yukio nodded, smiling a slightly. "Shiemi's mother owns the shop, I come here quite a bit so we're well acquainted." He gestured to Rin. "Shiemi, this is my older twin."

Rin waited for inevitable surprise about him being older, and he wasn't disappointed. It was also followed by the equally predictable comments about Yukio seeming like the older one. Rin could almost quote the entire script by heart at this point. He didn't even bother to pay that much attention to it. He only tuned back in when the stout woman told Shiemi to let Yukio see her legs.

Shiemi seemed to take offense at that, puffing up her cheeks. "I haven't met any demons! They're not why my legs aren't working."

Yukio crouched in front of her, giving her that reassuring smile Rin was familiar with. "I just want to take a look. If its not a demon than there's no harm done. I just want to help Shiemi. May I?"

Rin watched as Shiemi gave a small nod, letting Yukio pick up one small leg. He carefully pushed the kimono up, revealing strange, bulging veins running all the way up the limb. Rin was certain Yukio knew what it was just by how he was frowning.

"Its a root, a spirit wound from a demon. She's not possessed, it probably came from a demon possessing one of the plants. Something small, like a Dokkalfar or a Green Man. It's entered Shiemi's heart through her legs."

Rin stared around the garden, wondering how exactly they would find the demon. There were so many plants, none of which looked particularly evil at first glance. Rin supposed that in the end they could always burn the whole place, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Shiemi, demons usually use words to find an opening they can take advantage of to ensnare a human. Have you spoken to anything?"

Rin couldn't help but smirk a bit, tilting his head to the side. He thought back to that day years ago, when he'd walked home. _Demons use words to ensnare humans and find ways into their hearts. Did you use words to ensnare me Saika?_

_Saika loves Rin, Rin interested me. I only offered you companionship, hardly ensnaring. Rin could have said no._

He was working to smother his laugh when he heard Shiemi's mother speak up. "Shiemi you have to leave this garden immediately! I know your grandmother loved this garden, but it isn't worth destroying your health just to protect it! We need to get you away from it."

Shiemi scowled, and for the first Rin heard her raise her voice. "Don't say that! This was grandmother's treasured garden and I'm not going to give it up! Stop deciding what's best for me! I hate you!" The last part was practically shouted before the girl slumped over then fell back in a faint.

After they had settled Shiemi in the shed and gone back to the store, Rin tossed around what Shiemi had set. He knew what it felt like, to have everyone else deciding what was in your best interest. He wondered if his own situation seemed as obvious to others, as Shiemi's was to him. For the first time since that night, Rin found himself thinking about Shiro without the overwhelming anger and sadness that had become tangled up with thoughts of his father.

Rin listened as Shiemi's mother spoke, explaining what the relationship between them was like. It was strained and contentious, forcing Rin to see even more parallels. Wanting to make amends but thinking it was too late. So much pain and frustration, Rin wondered if the relationships between all parents and their children got this complicated.

After a few more minutes Rin excused himself, stepping back outside. He slowly made his way back down the steps, taking in the evening air and the fragrances that traveled on the breeze. Rin felt a slow, simmering anger build in his mind, like a rumble of thunder as he thought about Shiemi's situation. Foolish pride kept Shiemi here, and it kept Rin from talking to his father as well. He didn't agree with what had been decided, but Rin was finally able to see how it would help him.

His thoughts were broken by the soft sound of water falling. Rin felt his ear twitch and he followed the sound until he found Shiemi kneeling by a bed of flowers pouring water over it. "Gardening even this late? You should be resting Shiemi, your mother's worried about you."

"I don't care." A scowl crossed her face, twisting it into an ugly expression. "I said I was going to protect the garden and I plan to keep doing that."

Rin growled, walking over to one of the pots. He picked it up and threw it on the ground, listening to it smash with satisfaction. He lifted another one, and another one, throwing them down and watching them break. Rin only stopped when he felt hands close on his trouser's legs, Shiemi's wet face asking why he was doing this.

"I'm destroying your pride in this garden." _And my own._ "This has gone far enough, you're binding yourself here." _I've been binding myself to anger and bitterness. _"Is it really worth it?"

"Its my fault, its my fault Grandmother died." Shiemi's body was shaking as she spoke. "I went out and I came back late. I was supposed to help cover the arbor, she tried to it by herself and it crushed her." She sniffled a bit, looking up at him. "So you see, its my fault she died! If it hadn't been for me, she'd still be here. So instead, I have... I have to protect the garden..."

Rin looked away, gritting his teeth before he knelt down in front of her. "I don't think your grandmother would have wanted you to trap yourself here. She would have wanted you to move on and find the Garden of Amahara, like you wanted." Rin took a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't think she would have wanted you to make your mother worry so much either."

Shiemi started crying in earnest now, leaning forward to rest against him. "No, she wouldn't... you're right she wouldn't want any of that. I'm so stupid." She sobbed, leaning on him more. "I can't even move my legs now..."

Rin took a breath, trying to get his own emotions under control. "It's ok Shiemi, we'll find a way to get rid of that root. Even if we have to chop it into pieces."

"That won't be necessary." Yukio spoke up from behind them, smiling slightly. "Its not a very powerful demon, we can take care of it easily. Then Shiemi can use her legs again."

Unexpectedly a voice spoke up. "Unforgivable, I won't let you break your promise to me."

_Coming, coming, coming. Be ready Rin._

Taking Saika's advice Rin backed up, placing a hand on the sleeve holding Kurikara. Suddenly Shiemi seemed to lift from the ground on a pile of dirt. Rin was amazed as a flower seemed to bloom around her, a pair of menacing eyes opening around the unconscious girl.

"Finally, it showed itself." Yukio frowned. "Its using her as a shield though." Their eyes met for a minute. "I need your help."

Rin felt himself grin, pulling Kurikara out of its sleeve and sheath. "I always thought I missed my calling as a hedge trimmer." He fell into a ready stance, watching the demon carefully. Finding a chance and a place to strike that wouldn't also hurt Shiemi was the trick with this.

Finally after several moments, Rin decided to make a move. He ran around the side, trying to go for the back. The demon was fast though and it turned quickly, putting Shiemi in front of him. It obviously thought Rin was going to slash at it. Rin reversed his motion though, shifting his weight and instead of slashing thrust Kurikara towards one of the eyes. He managed to just catch it, feeling the blade slicing into it.

Almost immediately though he had to dig his heel in to try and reverse the momentum. The demon had turned, dragging Shiemi towards the blade's edge. Rin barely managed to pull free, stumbling backwards. It took a minute to regain his footing, some anxiousness easing when he saw that Shiemi wasn't hurt.

"Rin, pull back. I'm going to have to shoot, so I need to you to be ready for me." Their eyes met again, and for a minute that was perfect unspoken communication between the two. The kind of wordless understanding that only twins could ever have.

"You won't shoot her! You wouldn't dare risk injuring the girl!" The demon was taunting them, but Rin also detected a note of panic in the voice. Rin smirked at that, turning back to face it. He knew better than to try and call Yukio's bluff, because his brother never bluffed.

"Wouldn't I?" Yukio asked the question calmly before he pulled the trigger. The projectile impacted Shiemi's chest, and the demon released her. Rin ran and jumped, grabbing Shiemi in mid-air. He lifted Kurikara in his other hand, slicing the demon neatly in half before landing with a skid on the ground.

Rin laid Shiemi gently on the ground before accepting Kurikara's sheath from Yukio. He quickly sheathed the weapon, stowing it back in it's sleeve. "What did you shoot her with?"

"Plant vitamins." Yukio smiled. "She should be waking up soon."

As if on cue, a pair of green eyes slowly fluttered open, looking around in confusion. "Rin? Yuki?"

"The roots are gone from your legs Shiemi." Yukio explained with that reassuring smile again. "Try standing up."

Rin offered her his hands to help stabilize her. She stood up easily, a grin crossing her face when she was able to do it. "It's amazing, thank you both." Shiemi clapped her hands together, before letting out a small squeak of pain.

"Shiemi?" Yukio was immediately in front of her, taking her hands to inspect them. "It looks like you have a cut on your palm here."

"Its nothing, I cut myself with the trowel earlier today. I'd forgotten all about it honestly." Shiemi smiled a bit, pulling her hands back.

Yukio grabbed her hand again, turning it slightly so he could examine it. "It looks a little bit red, you'd better let me treat it later. It wouldn't do for you to get an infection." He smiled softly, seemingly oblivious to the blush covering all of Shiemi's face.

Rin smirked at his brother's cluelessness. It quickly faded to a frown as he watched Shiemi. He remembered studying Shiemi's hands when he'd first come into the garden, there hadn't been any cuts then.

"Shiemi..." They turned at the sound of a woman's voice.

The silence stretched for an awkward moment before Rin nudged the girl forward. "Speak to her, you'll regret it if you don't." Rin watched the tearful reunion between mother and daughter, feeling his own heart twist. Again his thoughts turned to Shiro and all of the things that still hadn't been said between the two of them.

He swallowed, turning away. It was still early enough... "Hey Yukio, go back without me. I have somewhere I need to care of." Rin could practically feel his brother's smile burrowing into the back of his head as he walked away.

By the time he reached the hospital, some of his courage had waned a bit. Standing outside the room, it was took several long minutes before Rin could bring himself to open the door. Stepping in, he met the tired brown eyes of the man sitting up in the bed.

"Hey Old Man, can we talk?"

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So here you have it, evidence as to why I don't write fight scenes. Also next chapter will have some of the long awaited Rin and Shiro angst! Feedback always welcomed and thank you for reading.


	8. Good Intentions Pave the Way

Short chapter is short. The reason this one is so short though is because the next one is extremely long. This one is angst, bonding and a bit of plotting.

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Shiro was surprised when he saw Rin enter his room, even more surprised when he spoke to him. He wasn't sure Rin would ever willingly speak to him again, the boy had seemed to be working very hard to avoid appearing any time he suspected Shiro might be awake. Of course Shiro was aware of the late visits, he wasn't always asleep when Rin appeared, he was good at faking it though. The last thing he wanted was to drive Rin away completely.

He watched his son settle into a chair, then fidget slightly. Rin was holding Kurikara across his lap, fiddling with one of the straps on the sleeve. The silence stretched between them, Rin in seemingly in no hurry to start the conversation. Shiro supposed that would leave him to do it, which was a good thing because he wanted a chance to at least try and explain.

Right as he opened his mouth to speak though, Rin beat him. "So... how are you doing?" Rin asked, eyes fixed firmly on the hands clenched in his lap. It obviously was not what he had wanted to say.

"I'm doing alright, doctors say my injuries are healing up nicely. They think I could even start physical therapy in a few more weeks." Shiro tried to keep his voice upbeat, but the words seemed to sink like a stone in the strained atmosphere.

Silence descended between the two again, heavier than before. Shiro could see Rin struggling with what to say next. Obviously the words he wanted weren't coming to him, Rin had never been very good at expressing himself like that. He had been one to show what he felt rather than that say it. Ultimately, Shiro couldn't stand the miserable look on Rin's face.

"Rin... I'm sorry." He sighed, sitting up a bit. "I don't expect you to forgive me, or trust me. I did hide the truth from you for a lot of years. I just pray that one day you'll understand that I was trying to protect you. I've never thought of you has a demon Rin, you've always just been my son. My little troublemaker that I never wanted to change."

Rin swallowed, looking up with wide blue eyes. There was doubt there, but also a heart breaking desire, a desperate want _to_ believe what was being told. "...And now?"

"I still don't think you're a demon Rin. As long as you are who you are Rin, you'll never be a demon. Because the Rin I know is a boy who cares too much for other people and is constantly putting them before himself. A person like that couldn't be a demon."

There came a small sniffle from Rin, his had bowed his head so that his face was hidden by his hair. "Why? Why couldn't you have told me what was going on? Why did I have to be the only one who didn't know? I know you said it was to protect me, but it doesn't feel like I was being protected. Now... now I can't trust anything you and Yukio tell me. I hate it! We're family! We're family... aren't we?" Rin's voice cracked at the end of that plea, making Shiro's heart break all over again.

Shiro cursed his inability to move because all he wanted at that moment was to hug Rin as tight as possible. Instead he was stuck in bed with a leg that would barely support his weight. "Have you ever heard of the proverb of the road to hell?" He watched as Rin's head jerked up before shaking his head. "It says that the road to hell was ordered by the righteous, paid for the by the just and paved with good intentions."

There was another despondent sniffle from next to his bed. "What does that even mean?" Rin asked, eyes dropping down again.

"It means that sometimes we do things for all the right reasons, but end up following it to a bad place. I tried to do the best I could with you and Yukio. I'll be the first to admit, I definitely made some mistakes." Shiro ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long sigh. "Believe it or not, you two didn't come with an instruction book."

Rin gave a watery chuckle, finally looking up again. "Maybe you destroyed it when you cut the watermelon open."

Shiro blinked, then let out his own laugh. "Must be." The humor died quickly though. "We are a family Rin, we always have been. I can't change what happened in the past, I can't change what I did. I just wanted what was best for you. That's why I wanted you to go to the exorcism school."

"So I can learn to exorcism demons? Like and Yukio? Guess it is the family business..."

Shiro sighed. "Partly for that, but also because there are a lot of people that will be after you Rin. Not just Satan, other exorcists if they find out who you are, they'll try to kill you. Because they won't see the wonderful person you are, they'll only see your heritage." Shiro took a shaky breath. "The last thing I want is to see you killed by some ignorant zealot who thinks all demons are the same."

Rin made a choked sound, a tear rolling down his cheek to land on his hand. "I guess... its just hard because it feels like everyone thinks I can't do anything. I'm not a child, you don't need to do everything for me. I can make decisions for myself if you let me. I can help..." The words were broken by a strangled hiccup.

Screw the injuries and the pain, Shiro couldn't stand seeing Rin like this any longer. He heaved himself up, pulling his leg over the side of the bed. This would hurt, but that didn't matter, what mattered was comforting Rin. He stood up, hissing a bit which caused Rin to look up. He immediately stood up, moving forward which worked out because Shiro's leg promptly collapsed under him.

Shiro smiled, wrapping his arms around Rin and hugging him firmly. The pain didn't matter, even if it felt like his leg and side were on fire. What mattered was the warm teenage boy pressed against him, shaking slightly. "I promise Rin, from now on we'll handles things together as a family. You, me and Yukio."

Rin sniffled, tears soaking into the thin top that Shiro was wearing. "How, how can I believe that?"

Shiro gently ran his hands through Rin's hair, soothing him. "I'll prove it to you Rin, however long it takes."

They stayed like that for awhile, Shiro comforting Rin as he cried softly. It never ceased to amaze him how Rin and Yukio were almost complimentary opposites. Yukio had always been physically weak as a child but resilient emotionally. Rin was the polar opposite, strong physically but emotionally he was very fragile. Like that time in the school room when he had been a boy, lashing with his strength because of the pain in his heart. Then, like now, Shiro's pain didn't matter, all that mattered was that Rin knew that Shiro wasn't going to leave him.

Hours later, Shiro was laying in his bed was quite happy from both the talk with Rin and the copious amounts of pain medication the nurses had given him. That's why he didn't blink when Mephisto bounced into his room. Instead he just smiled, lifting up a hand and waving before placing a finger to his lips.

"Quiet, don't want to wake him up." Rin had his head pillowed on the edge of the bed, sound asleep. He was even drooling a bit, which Shiro had always thought was rather cute.

"How touching, I must admit my little brother is far too adorable for his own good. He must get it from his mother." Mephisto said, somehow managing to keep his voice down. "How are you feeling today Shiro? The doctor said you got out of your bed, you naughty boy."

There wasn't any regret in Shiro's face. "Rin needed me. My boys are worth any amount of pain."

There came a soft, yet still dramatic, sniffle. "So moving a sentiment! Truly magnificent! It makes me regret having to break such terrible news."

Shiro felt some of his elation leave, a sense of foreboding settling on him that not even the medicine could counter. "What happened Mephisto?"

"The Gregori have decided since you are currently injured, that an interim Paladin needs to be assigned. They're still considering their options, but the foremost candidate is Angel." Mephisto smirked, but there was an obvious hint of distaste in it.

That caused a heavy sigh, Shiro fixing his eyes on the ceiling. "I knew they would have to do something while I'm recovering. I never would have thought they would go with Angel. This will make things more complicated, the man is a zealot."

Mephisto nodded, crossing his knees. "Indeed, an unfortunate sign of the times it seems. It also means that their faith in your recovery is somewhat lacking. Neither of these things bode well for us. Thankfully no one's started to sniff around here yet, but I fear that its going to be only a matter of time. We need to prepare Shiro."

Nothing good was ever came out of that look on Mephisto's face. Shiro knew that from long, hard experience. Yet he found himself unable to prevent himself from asking the next question. "Prepare for what? Or should I say prepare who?"

That giant grin that showed off his fangs spread across Mephisto's face. "Why prepare Rin of course. I already have some ideas on how to go about this. I know you hate thinking like this Shiro, but one of us has to be ruthless. Eventually we may need to use Rin and his powers as a bargaining chip to prove to the Gregori how valuable he could be to them."

Looking down at the peaceful face sleeping by him, Shiro found the very idea repulsive. Worse though, was the fact that he understood exactly all of the reasoning Mephisto had used to reach this conclusion. "He's not a tool or a weapon Mephisto, he's just a boy."

This time, there was something approaching sympathy in Mephisto's voice. "They won't see him that way."

"I know Mephisto. God help me... I know." Shiro closed his eyes, hoping that the leaden feeling in his chest didn't meant he was betraying the newly fragile trust he'd been given. "Do whatever you have to Mephisto, just don't let me know about it. I'm not sure he'd be able to forgive me again if I know what you're planning."

"Fear not my dear Shiro, I will take care of everything. You should just focus on your recovery." With a sweep of his hat Mephisto left the hospital room, leaving Shiro alone to worry and pray to a god he wasn't entirely certain was listening.

Mephisto returned to his office, snapping his fingers to produce a cup of tea. "Ah, so many little plans I need to make now. So much to figure out..." He sipped the beverage, staring out the large windows.

"First order of business I suppose, quite those fools down in Gehenna who are causing such a ruckus." Snapping his fingers he looked down at the small behemoth that appeared. "Find your master and let him know that I need to see him post haste."

Once the behemoth had left, Mephisto began to consider his next move. There hadn't been any true measure of Rin's skills and abilities since he had awakened his powers. The incident with the goblins probably came the closest but it was far from satisfactory. He needed a more in depth look at just how far his youngest brother could be pushed.

Glancing over at the large, brilliantly colored calendar, Mephisto smirked. "Perfect! The upcoming esquire exam will be a marvelous chance to see just how you react under pressure Rin. And I believe I know just the person to test you."

Turning back to his desk, Mephisto grabbed one of his pens and the lovely Honey-Honey Sisters stationary he had. "Dear Professor Neuhaus..." Mephisto couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he wrote the letter. So many plots and intrigues, finally things were starting to get interesting again!

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So next week longer chapter! More plot advancement and more of the other characters coming in. All reviews welcome and thanks to everyone who left a review for this chapter!


	9. School Daze

So this chapter is a little later than normal, sorry about that. I had some severe brain fry after my con which delayed in the writing of the next parts. As for the last chapter, I warned it would be short, the first part being the con I had to prepare for. The other part is this chapter got really long so I couldn't put the two of them together as originally planned.

Thank you again for all the reviews! Also, Winged Golden Tiger, I'm really glad the last chapter got you a little choked up. I was getting a little teary writing it myself. I'm glad you're enjoying Rin so far.

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Rin wondered why all teachers were so... boring. It didn't seem to matter what they talked about, the constant droning of their voice just made it hard for Rin to pay attention. The fact that the classroom was warm to the point of stuffiness was not helping Rin's poor attention span. It just seemed like it was begging him to take a nap.

Glancing over at Shiemi he wondered how the girl could stay awake during all of this. He'd been surprised when she had shown up in class as a new student, sitting next to him while shaking from nerves. Of course the fact that she was partially there to see Yukio was less of a surprise. Rin had given up figuring out why girls flocked to his brother in junior high after a week of wrestling with his brain over it. (He'd ultimately decided it was the glasses.)

There weren't even any windows he could look out of! Plus the subject was history, one of his worse subjects because it was all reading and dates and memorization. Letting out a sigh, Rin put his chin on his palm, looking around the classroom. He stopped when he met the glare of the guy in the back, taking in the streaked hair, piercings and general bad attitude. Rin just blinked at him before turning away, doodling in his notebook.

The boredom didn't get any better as the classes progressed. In Demonology Rin tried to pay attention, but it was more reading and droning on. He tapped his pen on his notebook, watching a lone coaltar floating around the room.

"Okumura! Pay attention!" The teacher shouted, getting Rin to look up at him.

"I am paying attention... mostly." The last part he muttered to himself.

"Then name for me the lowest minion of the King of Rot?"

The mention of that name made Rin instinctively grit his teeth, clenching the pen in his hand tightly. At that minute the coaltar floated in front him, making his eyes cross. "Coaltar..."

There was a moment of silence, like the teacher couldn't believe the answer. "You're correct..." The teacher went back to his lecture, and Rin felt the renewed heat of a glare. Turning he saw the boy glaring at him again, lips curled into a sneer. Rin ignored him, turning back to the front. This continued for the next few lessons until they got Yukio's class.

When Yukio mentioned handing out quizzes Rin immediately saw Shiemi perk up. There was a giant sparkle in her eye as she watched Yukio. Not the normal sparkle that Rin associated with her crush on his brother. "What's got you all excited?"

"I know I did good on the quiz! My family is a distinguished line of pharmacists, its the one thing I know I'm good at."

"Moriyama!" Rin gave her an encouraging smile as she went up to face Yukio. He watched as her excitement faded when Yukio began to grill her about some of her answers. Rin winced as he saw the grade on the paper that Shiemi was handed.

"Okumura." Rin stood up, walking up to his brother. He wasn't anticipating a high score on the quiz, but he thought he should have gotten enough right to at least pass. "Here is your test, I can see that you put some effort in on it." Rin looked down at his paper, blinking at the red 58 that stared at him. Just enough to pass, also it was better than his last one.

Yukio called the next name and Rin turned away, convincing himself to be happy with that when he heard someone sneering behind him. "58, its pathetic that you're getting praised for that." It was said quietly so Rin was certain Yukio hadn't heard it.

"Good work Suguro, you're hard work pays off again." Yukio handed the test to the guy, who promptly flashed it at Rin with a smirk. A bold 98 was at the top, the other guy obviously trying to taunt him.

"Well I guess you can't believe stereotypes if a punk reject like you can get a 98." Rin answered back, setting his paper on the desk. "Or maybe the tests aren't as hard as I thought." The comment was snide, but Rin was tired of being glared at constantly. Also excessive boredom always left him in a bad temper.

He turned to see a vein pop out on Suguro's forehead. "Listen you looser, I'm here because I'm serious about becoming an exorcist! Everyone else is studying hard to be exorcists too! So why don't you just drop out your reject, you're not even serious about this!"

Rin snorted, meeting the glare that was being sent his way. "Who the hell are you to call me a reject or that I'm not serious? You don't know anything you jackass! I'm here to become an exorcist too!"

"Going to do it between your daydream sessions? You can't even pay attention properly in class! All you do is flirt and stare off!" The other guy's friends had shown up now, trying to restrain him before it got physical.

Rin felt Yukio coming up behind him but he ignored it for now. "I don't do well listening to lectures! It's called ADHD you dipshit! I don't so this memorization crap." He felt Yukio restraining him, but what came out next really made him want to snarl.

"Now that's enough Rin. However Suguro if you want to try lecturing him some more be my guest." Rin let out a growl, jerking himself out of Yukio's hold with enough force to make his brother actually stumble.

"So glad to know how you feel about it Yukio." He spat the words out, walking over to his desk. Thankfully the bell rang right then, signaling the end of class. Rin grabbed his bag, stuffing the quiz paper in it without any concern for it now before storming out of the class.

He went over to the fountain, climbing onto second level of it. He set Kurikara down, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. He knew he shouldn't have let it get to him so much, it was just hard because the words Suguro had said had made sense. Rin wasn't there because he really wanted to be an exorcist, he was here because others wanted him to be one. That didn't mean he was just going to let himself get pushed around either.

Then of course, there was Yukio. Rin sighed, feeling an almost uncontrollable urge to make his tail lash behind him. He was sure that his brother was teasing him, mostly, and he hadn't needed to react like that. It was just that everything between them was still raw and sensitive that even things like that seemed to hit all the sore spots.

"Brother." Yukio's voice made Rin jerk up, meeting his brother's eyes. "Sorry about that, I only meant to tease you a little bit, I'm sorry if I upset you."

Rin sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I know, I'm sorry for reacting like that. That dude was just getting under my skin really badly." He watched at Yukio and Shiemi sat down. "Who is he anyway?"

"His name is Suguro Ryuuji. He's considered a prodigy, he's attending on a full scholarship and he's the heir of a historic temple in Kyoto. He's a great student, a good athlete and always pay attention. You two are sort of complete opposites."

Rin snorted a bit, looking away. Another person who was so much better than him. Sometimes it honestly felt like everyone around him was trying to give him a complex. He listened as Yukio reassured Shiemi about how she was doing, cheering the girl up a bit. Rin liked Shiemi, he honestly did and he wondered just how his brother could be oblivious to the massive crush she had on him.

When Yukio left to teach his next class it left Rin and Shiemi alone for the rest of the break before the PE class. Which meant it was up to Rin to find a subject to talk about, not his best skill in all honestly. "So... ah... Shiemi, how are your other classes going? You know in the regular school."

She gave him a confused look before smiling slightly. "Oh I only asked to get into the cram school. I couldn't handle going to the regular school, I'm far too shy."

Rin blinked, then frowned. "Wait, you can go to the cram school without having to go to the normal school? Man that is so unfair! I wonder if I can convince them to let me do that too..."

There was another pause before the blonde spoke again. "Speaking honestly, I guess I don't really belong in the cram school either. I don't actually want to be an exorcist, I'd probably have to be very smart like Suguro and I know I'm not."

"It doesn't matter how smart you are." Rin replied, meeting her surprised look. "You might not be smart enough to get it right away, but you work at it until it makes sense. Brains without any effort behind it is just useless facts. You don't need to change yourself to fit in here, you're fine being who you are Shiemi. If Suguro and others can't see that, then its their loss and I won't feel sorry for them."

Shiemi's eyes had gotten wide while he was speaking, a soft flush coming to her cheeks. She got to her feet, walking over towards him. Rin could tell she was working herself up to say something big. Right about the time she got all of her courage up, an annoying voice broke into it.

"Look at the lovebirds there! Making out between breaks, no wonder he's always spacing out in class." Suguro was walking towards them flanked by Baldy and Pinky, (which is what Rin had started calling the other two since he couldn't remember their names).

Rin let out a long sigh, putting his chin in his hand again. "Man, for someone who's supposed to be so smart, you're kind of oblivious. She's not my girlfriend and we weren't making out. Y'know its rude to just shout things like that out."

Suguro had a vein immediately pop out on his head, which made Rin wonder what it would take to make it burst. _Saika wants to love him. Can I love him like I loved the others? You said I could love all of the mean ones..._

"So what then? You guys just 'friends'?" The words were practically spit out at him, like he was expecting Rin to be embarrassed.

Unfortunately for Suguro, Rin had come to terms with the female gender and his feelings towards them awhile ago. "I dunno." He turned to look at Shiemi who was rather red. "Shiemi, are we friends?"

If possible, the girl's face got even redder and she stuttered for several minutes before just nodding her head. Grinning at that Rin straightened up. "Cool, I haven't had friends before." Turning back to Suguro he kept smiling. "We're just friends Suguro! Which means its perfectly ok for us to be together since you're always hanging with your two sidekicks."

Pinky let out a snicker, before doubling over a bit. He ignored the shouted comments from Suguro, but it was enough for Rin to pick up the name. Evidently Pinky was actually called Shima. That just left Baldy who's name Rin didn't know.

Of course now Suguro was just glaring at Rin like he expected the other boy to burst into flames. Rin idly wondered how he'd react if he knew that Rin could actually burst into flames if he wanted to.

_I want to love him. I love Suguro. I want to show him my love. Can I show Suguro my love? Love. Love. Love. Love. Love._

_No you can't Saika. Not right now at least, we'll just see how it keeps going. People will notice if we're not careful. Also you're still not entirely forgiven for before._ Rin could almost hear the sword pouting, which was odd because it shouldn't be capable of doing that.

As if the fates were conspiring against them, P.E. ended up teaming the two of them together in a race to escape from a giant... frog. Ok so there was some other fancy term for it, but it basically looked like a giant frog that was chasing them. The teacher was shouting something about it not being a race which the two of them completely ignored.

Rin hadn't started out looking for a race. He'd just started running, trying to keep from being squished. He hadn't even been going all out, until Suguro rushed by him and made some snide comment about Rin's body being in as poor shape as his brain. Of course this had the effect of kicking in Rin's competitive instincts, which meant the slight could not go unanswered. So Rin had kicked it into gear and passed Suguro. As could be expected, it led to an escalating cycle of one-up manship.

It would have all been fine though, if Suguro hadn't decided to take it one step too far. He jumped and kicked Rin in the back, which sent him flying. Completely forgetting that he should be careful, Rin's instincts kicked in, He put his hands down to flip himself over before digging his heels in to slow his momentum. Other than being slightly winded, and very pissed, he wasn't really hurt. Suguro though, had evidently forgotten that they were being chased by the frog and had stopped running, which led to him almost getting eaten before the teacher jerked on the thing's chain and pulled it away.

"What the hell is your problem?! You could have gotten us both injured!" Rin stood up, shaking himself off before going to glare at the taller boy.

"I'd rather die than loose to some idiot like you!" Suguro spat back.

That response made Rin seriously reconsider what he had said earlier. This guy probably could use some love from Saika, just so he could get an attitude adjustment. "If you want to die I'm not stopping you, you can get started right now! Just don't drag me down with you!"

As could have been predicted, this led to a messy brawl between them. Well mostly Suguro while Rin just focused on dodging or trying to grab him. The teacher and Suguro's friends showed up quickly and managed to pull them apart from each other.

The teacher pulled Suguro to the side for a talk, leaving Rin with Shima and Baldy. Thankfully they seemed friendlier than Suguro was.

"Sorry about Bon. He's a good guy but he just takes things so seriously its hard for him to cut people slack. He's got big ambitions you know and he's determined to reach them." Shima smiled. "Evidently he wants to be an exorcist to defeat Satan."

Rin blinked at that, staring at the two of them. "Defeat Satan? Is that even a possibility?"

Shima gave a chuckle. "Who knows? But Bon's determined to do it, so I'd tend to believe it is."

Baldy spoke up next. "He wants to restore our temple, it was practically ruined by the Blue Night." At Rin's confused look, Baldy gave a brief and very easy to understand explanation, both about the Blue Night and the their temple. Secretly Rin wondered if he could nominate Baldy to be a teacher because he was much easier to understand. Of course his mind was also running over what he had been told, feeling there was some kind of significance to it that he was missing at the moment. The fact that it took place the same year he and Yukio were born couldn't be a coincidence.

They went back up to the top of the arena while Shiemi and the girl with pigtails went down for their turn. Rin watched without really seeing how they were doing. His mind kept going over what Shima and Baldy had said, about Bon's ambitions. When he really stopped and thought about it, everyone had a reason to be here, something they wanted to accomplish. Even Shiemi had her own motivation. all of them, except for him. There really wasn't a reason for him to become an exorcist other than it was what Yukio and the Old Man wanted him to do.

Rin had always been plagued by a lack of focus in his life. He didn't have great soaring ambitions like some people, he didn't even have moderate ambitions. All his life he'd always been plagued by a feeling of not quite fitting anywhere he was. Like the puzzle piece that you get to fit into another spot, but the fit was never completely right. Honestly, he envied guys like Bon and Yukio. People who knew who they were, where they fit and what they wanted from life. Rin didn't have any of that, and he had no idea how to find it either.

The ringing of a cellphone jolted Rin from his thoughts. He listened to Bon grumble about it, until the teacher answered. Unfortunately Mr Tsubaki did nothing else to endear himself to his students by leaving them alone while he went to see his 'kitty cat'. Rin didn't even know that teachers could have booty calls, let alone answer them in the middle of class.

"True Cross Academy is supposed to be this great place where only the highly motivated get into. It turns out that not just the students but the teachers suck too." Bon gave a rather pointed look at Rin, which got his hackles up.

"Look would you just drop the attitude already? You got no idea about why I'm here so how can you say I'm not motivated?"

Bon's face was a mixture of anger and snotty superiority. "I can tell by how you act when we're in class. Just some spoiled kid getting by on your family's reputation."

Rin felt his temper getting closer to snapping. "You shouldn't run your mouth like that. Like you know anything about me. As if you'd even make an attempt since I'm obviously beneath your notice."

Shima and Baldy stepped forward, obviously wanting to break up the growing fight yet still wary of getting in the middle of it. Rin wanted to tell them they should just steer clear of it, there was no way this could be settled neatly now. Especially with the look that was crossing Bon's face now.

"So you say you're motivated huh? Well then, we can prove it if you want. "

Rin crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? And how would I do that?"

"With that." Bon gestured to the giant toad in the arena. "You go down, touch it and get back without being attacked you win. You see a Reaver reads your mind when it looks in your eyes. Then it waits for you to look away and drop your guard before attacking. If you're serious about becoming an exorcist then that's nothing to worry about, and just to play fair I'll do it too." Bon smirked, looking at Rin. "So, you up for the challenge?"

Rin stared at him for a minute, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah sure, I'll do it." Then he snorted a bit. "Like hell I will. I'm not stupid you know, and I'm certainly not going to fall for such a blatant trick. Besides who the hell does tests of courage anymore? We're not kids, what am I going to do when it attacks?"

Bon glared, that vein reappearing. "You have that sword you're always lugging around. Or is it just for show? Probably can't even use it properly. Reavers are weaklings so if it senses that it might get hurt it'll pull back."

"A sword is not something you draw lightly and play with. It is a weapon and a tool, to draw it for anything other than battle is to insult the sword. Once a sword is drawn it shouldn't be returned without having fulfilled its purpose. So I won't be pulling my sword just to show off for your lame little test." Rin's voice was very serious, meeting Bon's stare. "Besides, why are you so willing to risk everything for this? Don't you have an ambition you want to achieve? Yet you seem willing to through it all away for this."

Bon let out a surprisingly loud growl, glaring at his friends who had obviously spilled his secrets. "Such fancy talk when really its just an excuse to chicken out and not look like a coward."

"Think whatever you want, I'm not going to hold myself to your opinion." Rin muttered, moving away from him.

Bon was shaking now, anger and something else raditiating off of him like a wave. "Damn all of you, I'll prove that I can do this. Just stand there an watch!" With that he turned and slide down the wall to the arena. Despite the calls for him to stop Bon continued towards the Reaver. "I will be a real exorcist, and I will defeat Satan!"

There was silence as Bon and the Reaver stared at each other, but it was quickly broken by a laugh. Rin looked over at where the girl with pigtails was sitting. It made him angry, that she would laugh. Yeah Bon's ambition might be a bit weird and probably hopeless, that didn't give her the right to mock it.

Rin watched as whatever the Reaver saw in Bon made it react. Suddenly it let out a roar, looking much more menacing than it had before. It was obviously going to attack Bon, who seemed to be frozen now. Without pausing to think about it, Rin ran forward, leaping off the edge and towards the Reaver.

He couldn't pull either of his swords, but that was the least of his concerns. He managed to land in front of Bon, crossing his arms to absorb the impact from the Reaver. "Let go... I told you to _LET GO!_" Rin could feel something in his voice change as he shouted. It was still him, but there was something underneath, something that he knew the demon understood.

Once the dust had settled, the Reaver slowly released its Rin from it's jaws. If it was possible for a giant frog to look intimidated, it looked intimidated by the boy was standing there. "What the hell were you thinking? Are you fucking insane!?" Rin turned, glaring at Bon heatedly.

"Wha... Am I insane? You're the insane one! You could have gotten killed doing something like that!" Bon growled, getting to his feet. "Show off!"

Rin smirked at the other boy. "Says the one who came down here first. However I believe I completed your little test of courage. I confronted the Reaver and didn't get attacked. That means you have to admit that I'm serious about becoming an exorcist."

"I... No way! That was not the agreement! I don't have to admit anything!" Bon sputtered indignantly. "Furthermore you haven't even gotten back up top. This whole thing doesn't count anymore!"

"No taking it back after the fact! I passed and that's final!" Rin shouted back, but he wasn't really angry anymore. It felt, good actually. It reminded him of how he would argue with his Old Man, shouting at each other without really meaning any of it. For the first time Rin wondered if maybe he and Bon could grow to be friends.

"Well at least I'm not a short shrimp like you are!" Bon shouted back, turning and running back towards the ladder.

Or perhaps that was impossible. "I'm not short! I'm just waiting for my growth spurt to kick in! Its going to arrive any day just you wait!" Rin shouted, racing after the other boy.

On the far side of True Cross Academy town, a figure stood on the bare beams of a building in the midst of construction. It was an impressive sight, and the first would have been more impressive, if he wasn't wearing pumpkin short pants and a top hat. However there wasn't anyone to see it, at least no one that would care that is.

Mephisto calmly drank from his tea cup, not even flinching when the person he'd been waiting for finally arrived. "Long time no see Amaimon, King of Earth."

"It has been awhile, Big Brother." If Mephisto's clothes were considered outlandish by most everyone, Amaimon's went straight into strange. If goth had a business casual look that had gone through a paper shredder, Mephisto imagined it would look like what his brother was wearing. Such a hideous mix of green and purple shouldn't have been allowed, but they all had their own eccentricities. Maybe Amaimon was trying to color coordinate with his horrid little pet.

"So tell me, what is the news of Gehenna?"

"Everyone is rather upset about what happened. It seems no one knew that Satan's son was actually in Assiah."

Just as he had suspected. Mephisto and Shiro had done well disguising Rin and Yukio's presence from those in Gehenna. All of that was ending now though. Soon Rin would have to make his great debut onto the main stage. Not quite yet though, his little brother was still learning his part. "Pass along a message to our upset brothers. I've taken our youngest brother under my guidance and he is maturing nicely."

"Very well." Amaimon's reply was has uninterested as ever, yet the King of Earth didn't immediately attempt to leave. Instead he lingered, which Mephisto knew was quite unlike him.

"Something wrong, Amaimon?"

"Not at all. I was jut curious when you would return to Gehenna big brother."

Mephisto had to suppress a smile at the question. "You had best get going, don't keep our impatient brothers waiting for news."

"Alright." With that Amaimon turned and disappeared back to Gehenna. That was why he was Mephisto's favorite brother. He would follow instructions but he never pressed beyond the initial question. Amaimon was biddable without requiring too much control.

"I'll never go back to Gehenna. There's simply too many interesting things going on here, too many interesting plots to keep my hands in." Sipping his tea Mephisto tilted his head back. "This place is a paradise for me, far more than Gehenna ever could. Besides, if I went back I would miss out on the next season of the Honey-Honey Sisters, and I simply refuse to miss that."

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All feedback appreciated! We're starting to approach the more fun chapters which I am looking forward too. Including the introduction of Saika to the others.


	10. Bento Box Blues

Here's the next chapter! I'm finally getting to the fun parts of my writing so it will get more interesting soon. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and encouragement! Not much direct Saika in this chapter, but there will be more soon.

Night's Flower- I always love getting reviews from you. You give some of the best details and I'm glad you're enjoying it so much.

Winger Golden Tiger- The fight between Rin and Amaimon will definitely be fun. I've already got ideas about how both of the fights will go.

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Rin sighed and stretched as he stepped out of his normal classes. Unfortunately he wasn't really paying attention and ended up almost being mowed down in the great stampede to get to the co-op store. He'd narrowly escaped by grabbing one of the lampposts and hanging on for dear life. Once the stampede had passed him by, Rin carefully let himself down, staring in disbelief at the group of people milling about.

"Man, I am so glad I brought a lunch." Rin muttered, taking a breath before venturing into the throng of people. He was hoping they'd still have some juice boxes left, provided the rampaging horde hadn't cleared them all out. Fortune was with him today and Rin managed to get the last juice box the store had.

Just as he finished paying he heard a new ruckus by the front. Turning he saw Bon and another student arguing over one of the last sandwich rolls that was out there. Rin calmly popped his straw into his juice box, walking over to watch as the two argued.

"Hey, its a new face in the line. What's up Okumura?" Shima's good natured voice grabbed Rin's attention. He turned to see Shima and Baldy standing on the sidelines of Bon's fight.

"Hey Shima. Just came to get some juice. Man this crazy place makes me glad I brought a lunch."

Baldy sighed a bit, watching Bon. "Yeah, especially given how childish people get over things."

Bon turned with his trademark scowl in place. "Look Konekomaru, don't you know that grudges over food can last seven generations!? We've got to stop it before it even gets started."

Rin blinked, looking at the other boy. "Wow, your name is really Konekomaru? That's an awesome name." Rin sipped his juice. "You guys want to find a place to sit while Bon argues over the sandwich?"

"Sure." Shima looked around, before spotting something. "Hey, isn't that our young teacher over there? Looks like he's pretty popular with the girls."

Rin followed where Shima gestured, immediately spotting Yukio who was facing three girls who looked like they were holding out lunches for him. "Not again. This always happens."

"Always happens? So he really is that popular?" Konekomaru asked curiously.

"Yeah, its always been like that. Some of them get really creepy though. Of course Yukio is just completely clueless on how to handle it, so he just makes it worse."

Rin had just finished speaking when he saw his brother running towards him. He barely had a moment to brace himself before Yukio grabbed his arm and dragged him away. Worse than being dragged though, Yukio almost made him drop his juice box.

When they finally stopped they were both a little winded and standing in the cafeteria. "Man Yukio, you have got to do something about those girls. I'm not always going to be around to give you an excuse. You could try taking the lunches sometimes."

Yukio gave him a bewildered look before shaking his head. "I can't eat all of them, and if I take just one it'll get really ugly."

Rin rolled his eyes, straightening up. "That's why you take all three and then find people to share it with." Rin sighed. "How do you not know how to work these things?" Rin took a sip of his juice box, staring at the menu. "Wow, that got some nice food here but the prices..." He shook his head. "So are you planning to eat here?"

"I don't know. Even the cheapest thing is expensive, but there's nothing left at the store. Plus I can't risk going back out there."

"You can share my lunch then if you want. I brought it with me so there should be enough for the both of us."

That made Yukio pause in surprise, staring at his brother. "You brought your lunch? Where did you get that?" Yukio knew his brother could cook, but he hadn't remembered Rin mentioning anything about cooking.

"Oh, I just asked Ukobach if he'd mind making me a lunch. It was waiting for me when I got to breakfast this morning." Rin moved to one of the empty tables, pulling out the lunch box and unwrapping it.

"Ukobach?" Yukio grabbed a set of chopsticks and sat across from his brother, staring at the rather nice lunch that was before him. "Who's Ukobach?"

Rin chewed a bite, staring at his brother in surprise. "Ukobach, you know the guy that's been cooking our meals in the dorm?" He let out a sigh when he saw the blank look on his twin's face. "Didn't you stop to wonder where the food was always coming from?"

A look of embarrassment crossed Yukio's face, which he quickly hid by taking another bite of the lunch. "This is very good." He muttered. "Ukobach, isn't that a stove spirit?"

Rin shrugged before grabbing one of the sausages. "I guess. He's a great little guy, we get along really well. You can always ask him to make you a lunch too. Since you don't want to accept the one's made for you."

A smile crossed Yukio's face. "I might just do that, thanks Rin."

An answering smile crossed Rin's face. "No problem. You can ask him tonight, he agreed to let me cook in the kitchen for a little bit. I wanted to make a meal for the Old Man and take it to him. Because that hospital food is awful."

"Sure." Yukio was relieved, watching his brother. "I'm glad you and father are talking again." It was entirely sincere, which actually warmed Rin a bit.

It had been hard, after all the revelations, to feel so isolated from his family. Saika was good company, but it wasn't the same as having his brother or the old man. The bonds between them had been ripped apart, but Rin had hope they could mend it. It would never go back to what it had been, but hopefully they would build something better.

That evening Yukio stood in the kitchen, watching as Rin and the little demon Ukobach moved around the kitchen, preparing what they called a 'Super Stamina Lunch' for Shiro. Yukio never got tired of watching Rin cook, mostly because his brother took so much joy in it. Cooking was something that Rin was great at and Yukio often wondered why his brother didn't consider making a career of it.

He noticed that though both of them were in the kitchen and cooking, everything that went into Shiro's lunch was cooked by Rin alone. Ukobach's courses seemed to be going into the lunches for tomorrow. The little demon had readily agreed to make Yukio a lunch as well, seemingly excited when Yukio mentioned that the previous lunch had been delicious.

More than ever the next lunch period, Yukio was glad he had the excuse of having brought his own lunch. Because the three girls showed up again, all of them echoing the other's surprise about him bringing a lunch. Yukio worked hard to ignore the sight of Rin sitting next to him snickering into his rice.

"Wow, not only are you smart, you can cook too!" Hashino blurted out, staring at the perfectly laid out lunch.

Yukio shifted uncomfortably, silently wishing they would just leave so he cold eat. "Ah actually I can't cook. My brother helped make this for me."

Yukio watched as they turned to look at Rin, who just blinked at them before waving slightly. Then he turned back to his lunch, digging out a piece of omelet. Yukio watched as the girls looked between the two of them and dismissed Rin out of hand. It was something that people always did, and it never failed to lower Yukio's estimation of a person.

"Can you teach me to cook?" Yukio wasn't sure which one asked, not that it mattered because they all echoed the question. It was like being surrounded by a group of parrots.

"I really can't cook for the life of me. Rin's the one you would want to ask if you wanted to get lessons." Yukio tried to laugh it off, putting the lid back on his lunch with a sigh. He was really regretting the decision to eat outside.

The girls looked at Rin again, obviously still not believing him. Rin caught them looking and flashed a smirk. "You should listen to him, Yukio can't even cook rice properly. The last time he tried it turned into mush."

Yukio winced in memory of the incident. He'd tried to help out one night and he'd figured rice simple enough to make. He'd added too much water into the cooker and it had turned into a weird mushed porridge. After that Rin had forbidden Yukio from doing any kind of cooking without direct supervision.

"Hey Shima! Konekomaru!" Rin called out to his classmates, waving them over. "Why don't you join us?" He set his empty box aside, making room for the other boys, including a glaring Bon. Yukio though was immediately glad for the additions because the girls left quickly, intimidated by Bon's appearance.

He wondered why people had so much trouble believing that Rin was capable of cooking. Of course in asking that, Yukio had to admit that he tended to doubt his brother's capabilities too. Maybe it was just the way his brother never seemed to be connected to anything that made it hard to believe he was serious about something. Rin had given up trying to impress people at some point, instead he'd just taken to letting them think what they wanted.

It worried Yukio on occasion, how disconnected his brother seemed from everyone around him. It seemed like Rin felt he didn't need them, but no that wasn't it. It was like it didn't matter to Rin, either way. It used to be different, because Yukio could remember a younger Rin trying to make friends, to get the other children to acknowledge him. When had his brother changed? When had he stopped trying?

The fact that Yukio couldn't pin point when things had changed left a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. Now that the big secret was out, it seemed like there was so much that he didn't know about Rin. Things he had missed in his desire to get strong enough to protect his brother. This feeling Yukio had, of not knowing his brother, he hated it. He hated it so much, yet he couldn't figure out how to change it either.

The bell rang right as Yukio finished his lunch. Carefully packing it up he bid the others farewell before he turned and headed to his afternoon classes. He would ask Father about what to do when he went to visit him next.

"So Yukio's being stalked by girls wanting to feed him?" Shiro wasn't even bothering to hold back his laughter, leaning on the cane he was using as part of his physical therapy. "Sounds just like something that would happen to him."

Rin watched from where he sat on the floor, smiling a bit. "It always happens to him, and he still hasn't learned how to deal with it. I don't know how he can be that oblivious about the opposite sex."

Shiro laughed again, straightening up and continuing to walk around the room. He'd been told to do five laps of the room in order to build his strength and endurance back up. Plus Rin had told him he couldn't have the food he'd brought until he finished it. "Well neither of you were willing to take pointers from me in that respect."

That got a snort from Rin. "Why would we take advice from a priest? You're not supposed to know anything about girls in the first place. Besides, Yukio just seems like he wants to avoid the issue. But those girls looked scarey, I don't think they'll just let it go."

"Speaking of, what about Rin's love life? You can't tell me that there aren't any admirers for a guy like you." Shiro watched as Rin fidgeted a bit before shrugging. "What about Miss Moriyama? She joined your cram school class, and I know she has definitely grown into a beauty."

Rin rolled his eyes. "For one thing, she's totally into Yukio, like every other girl who meets him. Two, she's my friend and even if she's cute I don't look at her that. As for other girls, I don't know if any of them like me. I don't pay attention to that stuff, plus its not like I get people trying to confess to me. Sides, who would want to date me anyway? Ow!" Rin rubbed his head, glaring up at Shiro. Shiro in turn met his glare, lowering his can from where he had used it to whack Rin's head. "What the hell was that for!? Damned Old Fart!"

"That was for insulting my son." Shiro moved over to the sofa, sitting down heavily on it. "I won't stand for that, even from you." He straightened out his injured leg, letting out a sigh as the tired muscles quivered a bit.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Its not like I would even have time for that, what with all the schoolwork and other things gong on." Rin stood up, walking over to the table and grabbed the handkerchief wrapped bento. "Here you go, so that I don't have to listen to you complain about the hospital food."

Shiro grinned, unwrapping the bento. "Rin's cooking, I've definitely been missing it." At the sight of the carefully packed meal, he clapped his hands together. "Thanks for the meal." He took a few bites, then paused to be sure to praise Rin's cooking.

The boy might try to act like he didn't care, but Shiro could tell that Rin was genuinely pleased with the compliments. Shiro always made an effort to praise Rin when he could, especially when it came to cooking.

Besides having a natural talent for it, it was one of the few things that Rin could do better than his brother. In fact cooking was one of the few things Yukio couldn't do period. Shiro had often wondered why Rin hadn't ever decided to try and become a cook or a chef. Yet Rin had never seemed interested in developing his culinary skills into a career.

Shiro speared a pickle, chewing on it slowly. Rin was leaning back against the sofa, one knee drawn up to his chest. He was left wondering again if maybe Rin's lack of motivation was because they hadn't spent enough time encouraging him to do more.

All of them at the monastery had been happy when Rin taught himself to cook, even happier when it had turned out he was really really good at it. Most of them had only passable skills in the kitchen, with Shiro's own best dish being curry. They had all been excited, but there had also been a sense of relief at finally finding something Rin could do. Even back then, comparisons between Yukio and Rin were already being made.

Shiro would always stop it when he heard about it and he'd tried to reassure Rin that being who he was perfectly fine. However, when things had started to get hectic as the boys finished grade school and went into middle school, he hadn't been around as much. Rin had started to change then, he'd pulled back from them.

Taking another bite Shiro watched as Rin read the magazine he'd brought with him. When exactly, had Rin stopped minding being alone? When he was a kid, Rin had hated being left alone, in fact when Yukio had to start doing more intensive study at the cram school, Rin had thrown a fit saying that he wanted to come too. Yet at some point, Rin had stopped seeming to mind. In fact it was like he had avoided contact if possible with people, except for Saika.

Saika the friend he'd had but no one had ever met. Rin had mentioned her several times, but it had gotten less common as the years went. Still the name came up on occasion, enough that Shiro knew that Saika was still a presence.

Now that Rin was attending the cram school though, Shiro was hoping that would change. He wanted Rin to have friends, to have people around who could support him and care for him. It sounded like he'd made some progress, which did a lot to cheer Shiro up. Hopefully the bonds he made would prove strong enough to help support Rin when things got difficult in the future.

"Stop staring at me so hard Old Man. What the hell are you thinking about anyway?" Rin turned to look at him, straightening up.

"Just thinking how cute you turned out to be." Shiro leaned over, ruffling Rin's hair. "Thanks for the meal, I feel more energetic after eating Rin's food made with love!"

"Don't be gross Old Man." Rin moved to pack the bento box, wrapping it back in the handkerchief. "Since you're done I'm going to head back now. I have to do some studying tonight or Yukio will never shut up." Rin straightened up, grabbing his bag. "I'll come visit you again with another lunch. Don't push yourself too hard."

Shiro got to his feet, grabbing his cane. "Another home cooked meal, I can't wait for it. Do you think I could get fried shrimp next time? Oh, oh, and some octopus wieners too!"

"I'm not a housewife, you'll get what I make you. Ungrateful Old Man, you'd better enjoy this because once you're better I'm not making you any more bentos!" With that Rin left the room, stomping down the hall.

Rin walked back from the hospital, empty lunch box and school bag in one hand, plastic grocery bag in another. There were a few things they didn't have in the dorm that he wanted, plus there was a couple of spices Ukoboch said he wanted for their next meal.

He blinked in surprise when he saw Shiemi hovering outside the dorm. "Shiemi? What's up?" Rin watched as she fumbled for words until Yukio poked his head out and repeated the question. He did his best not to roll his eyes as how quickly Shiemi managed to answer when it was his brother asking.

Rin just shook his head at the bright red color Shiemi turned when Yukio invited her for tea. He opened the door, ushering his friend in before glancing back at the walkway that led to their dorm. He thought he'd seen something over there, but there was nothing now.

Having tea with Shiemi was surprisingly pleasant. Unlike a lot of his brother's fans, she didn't completely ignore him. Besides, the two of them were friends in their own right, Shiemi had even said so. There was just something peaceful about the little blonde that Rin found he really enjoyed.

"So Ukoboch is a familiar?" The hesitant question pulled Rin out of his thoughts and back to the conversation.

"Yeah. Evidently he's Mephisto's familiar and he has him serving as our cook. Which is great because I don't want to think about what that clown would cook." Rin shuddered a bit at the thought. "Ukoboch made the tea and cookies too."

Shiemi sipped the tea, smiling before nibbling one of the cookies. "It's delicious! Thank you very much Ukoboch!"

Rin smothered a smile behind his own tea cup when he saw the little familiar fidget in embarrassment. When it came time for Shiemi to leave, Ukoboch waved her off, continuing even after she and Yukio had left for the supply shop.

"That's all it takes to get into your good graces? Man you're easy Ukoboch." Rin said, smirking at the small demon who proceeded to lecture him. "Yeah, yeah, as long as people think its good that's all you care about." Rin stretched a bit, moving into the kitchen. "Need any help with dinner?"

The rest of the evening was pretty typical. Dinner between him and Yukio, followed by several hours of enforced study time. Rin would never understand how his brother could stand just sit there and study like it was nothing. Rin started getting antsy after twenty minutes, after a full hour he was practically bouncing in the seat. The only things helped were noise or music of some kind. Yukio said it was distracting to his own studying, so Rin often just resorted to pulling out his headphones. It was a compromise they were learning to live with, as long as Rin kept it down enough that it didn't leak out.

It looked like it would be another typical night, until the screams jolted Rin awake. Looking over at his brother who was mirroring his surprise, Rin was left wondering just what was going on. They both bolted out of the room and down to where the scream had come from. The light from the kitchen spilled out into the dining area, illuminating a rather disturbing sight.

Ukoboch was easily ten times larger than normal, standing in front of the stove. When he turned to snarl at them, three girls were shown to be wedged into the giant pot. "Uh, Yukio aren't those...?"

"They're my classmates." Yukio groaned in disbelief, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "They must have snuck in because of the lunches." Further words were cut off as Ukoboch started the stove and began to add seasonings. "He's really going to cook them? That's not right."

"You're damned right its not right, if he's going to make a stew he should have added bay leaves and ginger. Cuts the meaty smell. If he's making a soup he would have had to cut them up." Rin scowled. "Its a basic fact of cooking, there's no way he should have forgotten that."

"I don't really think that's the point here Rin!" Yukio's panicked shriek was very unmanly, though Rin wasn't going to tell him that.

"Its exactly the point." Rin slowly walked forward. "Ukoboch... didn't you say that if someone enjoyed your food, that was good enough. Isn't that why we cook? Because we want to make people happy and see them enjoy what we put our heart into." Rin eased himself closer. "Do you really think anyone's going to find this delicious?"

Ukoboch let out a depressed sounding growl, slumping over the stove. Rin carefully eased up next to him, patting the now rather large familiar on the shoulder. He gently managed to get Ukoboch to back off, moving so that he was standing in front of the pot. Honestly, he was startled they even had a pot big enough to fit three teenage girls in.

"Why on earth were you breaking in here anyway?" Rin asked, feeling Saika slide into his palm. _Guess I'll find out._ It only took a quick flick of the wrist to slash each of them. Rin made sure it was shallow, just across the top of the legs. Still it was enough because he felt them stir, three pairs of red eyes focusing on him. Saika was crowing happily in his mind over getting to show more people their love.

"Why wouldn't you eat them...?"

"We worked hard to make the lunches...?"

"We just wanted you to eat it..."

Rin blinked, then turned to look at his brother, who at least had the grace to look abashed. "I guess its kind of my fault then, huh?" At the twin glares from his brother and the familiar he shrank back a bit. "I'm sorry, but I just can't handle things like that."

"You're hopeless Yukio." Rin shook his head. "Completely hopeless, why on earth do girls even like you?" He gave a heavy sigh. "Look, when they bring you lunch tomorrow, let me handle it ok?"

True to his word, the next day when the girls approached carrying a lunchbox Rin placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Go sit with Shima and the others ok? Leave it to me and I'll take care of everything."

Rin waited until his brother nodded and moved away before intercepting the girls. He gave them his best smile, trying to look harmless. "Are those lunches for my brother?" At their nod he reached out his hands. "I'm sorry to say this, buy my brother is far too shy to accept the lunches from you directly. So I've come to accept them on his behalf. It was so nice of you to do this."

Rin took the lunchbox from them, continuing to smile. "Yukio's been so concerned about it that he's been making himself sick .He can get embarrassed easily, so it would be best if you didn't make anymore lunches." Rin's eyes flashed red, as he spoke, putting his unique emphasis on the words.

It worked just like Rin knew it would, the girls thanking him for his concern. If there eyes looked red, well there was no one around to notice. Rin accepted their gratitude and turned to head back to his classmates with the lunch. He set it down in front of all of them, lifting the trays out. "Come on, dig in everyone."

"We really get to each this? Score! Man the Okumuras have all the luck." Shima said, grabbing a bite of omelet.

"I'm hesitant to ask but, just what did you say to them Rin?" Yukio asked, being careful to try a little of everything.

"Don't worry about it Yukio. I told you I'd handle it, this is all part of being a big brother." Rin grabbed a piece of omelet. "But next time, don't be such a wimp about it."

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So here you have it! I'm super excited about the upcoming chapters! All reviews and feedback always gratefully appreciated.


	11. King's Gambit

Apologies for the delay of the chapter. My writing got delayed for several reasons, including wanting to get the next couple of chapters just right. Also I had to try and get a better idea of where the story will head from here on out. Most specifically whether to follow closer to the manga or the anime. So I'll take people's opinions into consideration too because I haven't gotten that far ahead in my thought process.

Also thanks for the lovely reviews that I've received!

Dare Mo: Thank you very much for your review! An you might be right, maybe Saika did slash Shiemi an maybe Rin wasn't aware. Who knows?

Unknown Being: There are a couple of reasons for the story's title. One, it is the name of the second ending in the anime which I love (its actually my phone ringtone). Its not actually referencing Rin, at least not at the moment. Its partly from a scene I've had in my head for a long time that might never make into the story because I can't find a good place for it to fit. And the simplest reason is that I really could not think of a better title. ^_^; I'm good at coming up with names for other people's stories, just not names for my own stories.

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Rin sat in class, expertly tuning Yukio with the ease of long practice. He wasn't sure what his brother was droning on about, but he had a hard time concentrating on lectures on the best days. At the moment all of his mind was taken up with thoughts of what he had seen in the hallway before class.

He'd been walking along, minding his own business, until he heard the distinctive sound of someone falling. Hurrying up he'd stopped when he saw Shiemi sprawled on the ground while the other girls in their class walked away. It had annoyed him really, to see them just leave Shiemi behind like that.

Rin had hurried over to help Shiemi gather her stuff. She hadn't looked at him, just giving a quick nod when he asked if she was alright. It was a lie though, even someone like him could realize that. Rin had no idea what to say in the situation, so he hadn't said anything, he'd just walked the petite blonde to their class. Who knew having friends was so complicated?

"Summer break is a month away, before then though you will all be taking the Esquire Authorization Exam." Rin perked up at that, focusing on his brother fully for the first time. "After becoming Esquires your training will become more specialized. Neither the test nor the training will be easy, so there will be a week long camp to help prepare you. This isn't mandatory, so you will all have to fill out a form to participate. Please be sure to include the Meister specialization you wish to receive."

Rin looked at his sheet of paper blankly for a minute. "Meister... meister..." He waited until Yukio was done passing out the forms before he walked over to where Bon, Shima and Konekomaru were sitting.

"Hey, what types of meisters are there?" Rin sat down, not really waiting for them to invite him.

"Geez, I can't believe you don't even know that. Unbelievable, how clueless you are." Bon's griping was expected and Rin pushed it aside the same way he pushed aside all the similar comments he'd received.

"I'm asking because I don't know so that I won't stay ignorant."

Shima gave that good natured smile of his that Rin had come to really appreciate. "Well they say the worst crime is remaining ignorant."

"Meisters are the qualifications that exorcists have to achieve to even be considered exorcists." Konekomaru spoke up, which Rin was glad for. The little monk just seemed to know how to explain things so Rin would understand. "There are five classes of meisters, Knight, Dragoon, Aria, Tamer and Doctor. Of course each one has it's own fighting style. You have to achieve a title in at least one of those to be considered an exorcist."

"Oh, I get it now. So what meister are you going for?"

Konekomaru looked down at his paper. "Shima and I are trying for Aria. Aria's recite sacred texts and scriptures." The little bit of extra explanation was offered on the assumption (and a correct assumption too) that Rin didn't know how an Aria fought.

"Bon of course has to be the over achiever and go for both Aria and Dragoon." Shima offered, ignoring the glare his friend was sending him.

"Mr Okumura is a meister in both Doctor and Dragoon." Konekomaru offered brightly. "And they say that the Paladin has at least three meister titles!"

Rin smirked a little to himself, looking down at the page. "Makes sense..." He tapped his pen on the sheet of paper before filling out his form. "Not like I have a lot of options, so I'm going to be a Knight. They specialize in swords right? That's pretty much my only talent." Rin sighed, putting his chin in his palm and scanning the room.

_I couldn't be an Aria, the last thing I want to do is accidentally kill myself by reading the wrong verse._

_Saika also does not want to die by having Rin say the wrong verse. Now Rin can show everyone the talent that Saika has taught him._

The wandering gaze landed on Shiemi, who was still sitting at the desk staring at the sheet of paper. Now that he thought about it, Rin had kind of abandoned her to go sit with the guys. "Hey Shiemi! Come on over here!" He waved to get her attention, gesturing to the seat next to him.

Poor Shiemi looked nervous when she came over, so Rin smiled to try and relax her. "What meister are you thinking of Shiemi?"

"I'm not sure... I'm not certain I'm really suited to any of them..." Watching Shiemi fidget like that was rather painful for Rin to see. He didn't really understand her uncertainty.

"Well you could always be a Doctor. I mean your family are pharmacists, so you already have a lot of knowledge about it."

Shiemi's head jerked up, green eyes impossibly round. "You... you really think I could do that?"

Rin nodded, smiling. "Don't sell yourself short. You know all the stuff they teach in the pharmaceutical class, you just don't keep the names straight." Rin looked over at the others, trying to get them to help him.

"Rin's right Miss Moriyama, you really do know a lot about plants. I'm sure you'd be a great Doctor." Konekomaru easily jumped in, smiling slightly at her.

"Man, if I had a doctor like you Moriyama, I wouldn't mind being in the hospital..." Shima's voice was dreamy, and Rin didn't even want to contemplate what dirty thoughts were going through his mind. Thankfully Bon saved Rin the trouble, and hit Shima upside the head for him.

In their next class they had a new teacher coming in. Well not new exactly, he'd taught a couple of classes already, mostly on types of demons but nothing very in depth. Now though he said that since they were eligible for the esquire exam that they were going to have a test. Professor Neuhaus then gave them all little squares of paper with designs on them. Then he proceeded to go to the middle of the class and began to draw an elaborate design with a giant chalk pointer.

While doing that Rin watched Professor Neuhaus. The man was tall, sturdily built with an eye patch covering his right eye. His Japanese had a strong accent, but it was definitely understandable. Still, there was just something about him that put Rin on edge. It was the way that his one working eye blankly stared at all of them but always seemed to linger on Rin.

"We'll be going over demon summoning today. In order to summon a demon, you must have the magic circle, a drop of your blood, and most importantly, the proper invocation." He loosened some bandages around his hand, flexing it slightly until several drops of blood splattered onto the circle. "Son of Typheous and Echidna, hear my call!"

Rin watched in shock as the floor seemed to bubble upwards until suddenly there was something that looked like a reject from a horror movie standing in front of them. He heard Konekomaru saying something about a naberius, whatever that meant. To Rin it looked like the world's ugliest dog.

_Such an unsightly demon to summon. Demon summoning, enslaving others... Its repulsive._ Saika sounded upset, and Rin realized that the entire time they had been in the room with Professor Neuhaus, Saika had been rather subdued.

"Few people can summon and control demons. You must have a strong, unbreakable will in order to do so. Also you must possess a talent for it as well. That's what we're going to test today. Take out the papers I handed you. They have a copy of the circle on it, simply place a drop of blood on it and recite whatever invocation comes to mind. If you have the talent, something will answer your call."

Everyone in the class stared at their papers, except for Kamiki. Rin watched as she immediately pulled out a pin, pricked her finger and swiped the blood over two pieces of paper. "I humble call upon the Gods of the Harvest, follow my wishes. Leave none unfulfilled!" Two white foxes immediately burst out of the brandished paper and settled beside her.

Rin watched the rest of the class gasp in astonishment and the teacher rumble about how impressive it was. _No way that's her first time doing something like that. _Rin watched as Kamiki preened at the attention.

_Old power there, not the first time dealing with foxes that one. Will Rin try to summon a demon to serve him?_

Rin listened as everyone else grumbled about not being able to summon anything. He personally wasn't going to try doing it, mostly because he wasn't sure what exactly might come if he did. _No I won't. I mean who knows that might come out? Besides if working with a demon is all it takes to be a tamer, then don't you count?_

_Saika is partner to Rin, not Rin's servant. Rin did not tame Saika, Saika chose Rin._ The chastisement was clear but it did nothing to stop his smirk.

"I'm going to give it a try!" Shiemi's voice broke through Rin's thoughts, making him turn. He watched as she smeared a little blood on the paper she held. "Here boy, here... or something..." Certainly not a fearsome incantation to be sure.

Rin could tell Shiemi was just about to give up when suddenly there came a popping sound and a little green moss creature was floating down to her. It was so cute that Rin could almost feel his blood sugar spiking as he watched it.

"A baby Green Man spirit, most impressive Miss Moriyama." Professor Neuhaus said, nodding a bit.

Rin let out a sigh, glad that Shiemi had found something else she was good at. It was obvious the spirit fit her, given the way it was happily climbing her hair. His burgeoning good mood was dashed though, when Shiemi called out to Kamiki. The sarcasm in the other girl's response flew right over Shiemi's head, but it frustrated Rin to no end.

Professor Neuhaus pulled their attention back to himself quickly enough. "Looks like we have the Tamer candidates for this class. Tamers are very useful in battle, they're rare and highly valued. However keep this in mind, demons do not obey those viewed as weaker than they are. If you loose confidence they attack. If you ever feel endangered from your familiar, simply destroy the circle and the demon will be released." He demonstrated by scuffing his foot over his own circle, making the weird dog-thing disappear.

Class was dismissed soon after and Rin watched Shiemi run after Kamiki, barely controlling his own irritation. He wasn't going to stop Shiemi if she wanted to try and be friends with the other girls. Rin just hated the fact that Shiemi was so naïve about things. It meant she would get taken advantage of. Kamiki wasn't an awful person, but she wasn't exactly nice either.

His worst fears were confirmed when he stepped out of the class with Bon and the others to see Shiemi trailing after Kamiki and Paku, carrying Kamiki's bag like a maid. Rin felt his hands twitch, so he quickly stuffed them into his pockets before turning and walking away.

Later that night in his room, Rin continued to stew over it. The whole situation was just going to keep getting worse. Their personalities were complete opposites, and Rin knew that Kamiki would entirely take advantage of that. Even thinking about it filled him with frustration.

Without realizing it, Rin had crushed the pencil he was holding, the sharp edges of it jabbing into his palm. Letting out a hiss as the pain broke him from his thoughts, Rin immediately searched his pockets for a tissue. When he thought he found one, he wiped the blood off before checking to be sure he didn't have any pieces stuck in his finger.

"Man, I got to get my mind off of this." He grumbled, setting the tissue aside. Since Yukio wasn't around, Rin got up and went over to the computer that was idling on his twin's desk. Rin needed to cheer up and there was only one sure way he knew to do that. A quick search revealed what he wanted and he quickly hit play.

The rather energetic sounds of the Nyan Cat song soon filled the dorm, easing the tension from Rin's frame. He bopped his head along and he even tried to sing a little bit. "Nyan nyan nyan, nyanynanyan."

From the desk came a whooshing sound and suddenly Rin was knocked off of the chair and onto the floor by... a black cat with two tales? He stared dumbfounded at the cat, who was staring back at him with equal perplexity. "Where did you come from?"

**'I don't know, suddenly something summoned me here and I appeared. Who are you?'**

Rin was struck with an intense feeling of dejavu at the moment. He was sitting here talking to, and understanding, a cat. The last time something like this had happened was when he met Saika for the first time.

"You were summoned? But how...?" Looking around Rin's eyes landed on the tissue that had fallen to the floor. Only now he could tell it was no tissue but that paper that Neuhaus had given them in class. "Oh shit, I think I summoned you." _But how in the world do you summon something with the Nyan Cat song?!_

The cat jumped off of Rin, twin tails swishing behind it. **'So you summoned a great Cat Sith like me without knowing it? You must be something special.'**

Rubbing his head Rin let out a long breath. "I get that a lot." He smiled a bit, watching at the little demon investigated. "Still, I always wanted a cat, so I guess I could have accidentally summoned something worse."

There was a glare from the cat who suddenly stalked over, swiping Rin with its claws. **'Accidentally you say! That doesn't matter, you summoned me so you have to take responsibility! I'm not just going to let you get away with this without taking responsibility for it.' **The entire tirade was angry, but Rin thought he could sense something underneath it all, a feeling he was familiar with. The intense desire to not be left behind.

It was a familiar feeling, something he'd had every time Yukio and the Old Man had left. When he and Yukio had been put in different classes, when his brother had started to go away for school. There was always the feeling that the people he loved were leaving him behind, and he always despised it.

"Don't worry, I promise to take full responsibility. You'll be my familiar ok? My name is Rin, Okumura Rin. Do you have a name?" The black cat regarded him warily for a minute before shaking it's head. "Well, since you're black how about I call you Kuro?" Rin smiled, watching the cat sith's expressive eyes as it lit up at the name. "Now that you have a name there is no way I can leave you behind."

Reaching over, Rin picked Kuro up and held him in his lap. "Now then, I just have to figure out how exactly I'm going to explain you to Yukio..."

"So tell me again, how did you _accidentally_ summon a cat sith?" Yukio asked again, standing in front of their dorm with his arms crossed.

Rin rolled his eyes, reaching up to his shoulder and scratching Kuro's head. "Really, you want me to go over it again? Its done with Yukio, just accept it." Rin grinned at his new familiar. "Besides, I always kind of wanted a kitten." Kuro let out a happy meow, not moving from the spot on Rin's shoulder. "What I want to know it why this training camp has to be in our dorm."

Yukio sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Because there's no one to be bothered if we get loud here. We're the only ones in the building and its well isolated from everyone else on campus." Yukio looked at the road leading to their dorm. "It's just practical."

There wasn't any chance to respond because the rest of their class was suddenly walking towards them. Their reaction would have been more amusing, if Rin wasn't already annoyed at the idea of having them all invading his home.

"Its like a haunted hotel." Bon stated, eyes raking over the slightly run down building.

"This place feels completely creepy. Wasn't there anywhere else we could have had this?" Kamiki's voice complaining cut through Rin, making him grit his teeth. It was even worse when he watched her turn and hand her bag off to Shiemi.

It had driven him to distraction the past few days, watching Kamiki order Shiemi around like she was some kind of servant. He wanted to do something about that, to make Shiemi see she was just being used and that the other girl wasn't really her friend. Rin held himself back though, mostly because he knew that the little blonde wouldn't really listen to him. Though when Paku spoke up Rin was glad someone else was willing to try and get Shiemi to see reason.

"Everyone please step inside. I'll show you to the rooms you'll be using for the training camp and then we have a test to take." Yukio said it all in a placid voice with a smile on his face. Rin wondered again which of them was really supposed to be the demon.

Even though the test was not as bad as he had been expecting, Rin was still exhausted by the time it finished. It certainly seemed like he wasn't the only one who felt that way, given the way everyone else let out groans. Making some kind of excuse Rin slipped away, stepping out of the dorm.

"Man, this feels so good..." Rin muttered, walking into the wind. He'd felt so uncomfortable in there, like he was going to crawl out of his skin. Rin wasn't used to having so many people be so close to him. Rin was a definite believer in personal space, probably because for so many years the only people that got very close to him were Yukio and his dad. Even in the monastery, he only had to be close to everyone at dinner and after that he was left on his own. So when he had everyone around him, he felt smothered.

He stayed outside until he felt like he could stand to go back in. Upon stepping back into the dorm, Rin decided to get some juice before heading to his room. As he was walking down the hall, happily slurping his juice box, he almost bumped into Shiemi turning away from the bath. "Shiemi? What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing... I have to go buy some fruit milk..." Her voice was quiet and subdued, intentionally not looking at him as she started to walk by.

Without thinking Rin reached out and grabbed Shiemi's wrist. He just couldn't take this anymore. "Stop doing that. You don't have to do everything she tells you to do."

There was a moment of silence before Shiemi rounded on him, green eyes glaring hotly at him. "She's my friend and I'm just helping her. You're supposed to help you friends!"

Rin frowned, staring right back at her. "We're friends, and I don't make you do any of the things she does." He fought against the urge to put command behind his words. "Friends help each other, I don't see her doing a lot of things for you."

There was a long pause, and Rin could feel some tension leave Shiemi, only to be replaced by a new kind of tension. "I want to become strong enough to help others. I don't want to always have to rely on you or Yuki or one of the others to come help me."

The more Shiemi spoke, the most hysterical she seemed to get. Rin didn't understand what she was thinking at all, but it was irritating him. _Ugh, why can't she understand that Kamiki's just using her! She doesn't view her as a friend at all._

_Show Shiemi our love. It will make her understand. Saika and Rin love Shiemi, make her understand through love..._

It was tempting, extremely tempting to reach for the power Saika offered. It wouldn't take much to do it, then he wouldn't have to see Shiemi following and getting stepped on by Kamiki. What held him back though was the fact that if he did that, would he really be any better than Kamiki? He'd still be using Shiemi. Only this time she wouldn't have be able to say no.

"You wouldn't understand! You're strong and confident, its easy for you to make friends!" Shiemi practically screamed those words at him before jerking away and running down the hall.

Rin could only stare gobsmacked after the retreating blonde. The words definitely drove home fact that Shiemi hadn't gotten to know him very well yet. It had never been easy for Rin to make friends, in fact he was pretty certain he had told Shiemi that she was the first friend he'd ever had, outside of his family.

He scoffed before chasing after Shiemi. She'd gotten a pretty good lead on him, but Rin was certain he'd be able to catch up. It was impossible to run quickly in those wooden sandals of hers after all. Right when he caught up to her though, there came a loud scream from the girl's bathroom.

"Kamiki and Paku!" Shiemi gasped, turning down the hall.

"Go get Yukio! Hurry!" Rin ordered, pushing her forward before he turned and ran back towards the bath. He couldn't imagine what might be going on, but it sounded bad. Plus he could feel something, like an icy tickle on the back of his neck.

He reached the bath just in time to see Kamiki's white foxes moving to attack her. Rin quickly jumped in front of her, punching both of them. Turning he saw Kamiki collapsed on her knees, staring blankly at her familiars. A distant part noted that Kamiki was in her underwear, but the rest of him was too focused on what was going on. "Tear up the paper!"

Rin was relieved when she did that, making the foxes disappear. That was one issue resolved, now he had to deal with the giant, ugly, two-headed zombie... thing in front of them. _With Kamiki here, I can't pull either of my swords. I'm not very good in hand to hand, especially not with something this big...And there's Paku to think about too._

The other girl was unconscious at the monster's feet, right between the two of them. Which was just causing even more complications with figuring out how to fight with this thing. He hoped that Yukio got here soon to help, because he seriously didn't think he could do this on his own.

"Rin! Paku!" Shiemi ran into the room, eyes widening. "Rin, distract the demon while I treat Paku's injuries!"

Rin growled, grabbing Kurikara in its wrapping and pulling it forward. _Easier said than done!_ He darted forward, swinging the wrapped sword into a downward strike. It crashed into the demon, knocking it back enough that Shiemi could get to Paku.

As it recovered though, it said something that Rin had only heard one other time. **'Young Master.'**

Rin's moment of surprise was all that the demon needed to grab his head and throw him through the glass door into the bath itself. He managed to stop Shiemi from coming in, but it was the last thing he had breath for before the demon put its hand on his throat. The demon was too heavy for Rin to push off, especially with it cutting off his airways like this.

**'Forgive me. This is the order of a certain person.'** The pressure increased, Rin's airway completely cut off. He tried to shift his arm into a position where he could let Saika slip free. Better to reveal the demon sword than to die of asphyxiation.

**'Rin!'** The newly familiar cry was a welcome sound, but even more welcome was the feeling of the demon being knocked off his chest. Opening his eyes , Rin saw Kuro standing there, much larger than normal and baring his fangs at the demon. This was quickly followed up the the rapid report of Yukio's gun.

The demon broke away, jumping up the walls towards the windows. '**You're not getting away with hurting Rin!'** Kuro snarled, chasing after the demon and trying to follow it out the window.

"Kuro, come back. There's no way you can catch it now." Rin slowly pushed himself up, massaging his throat. "Yukio! You're late."

Yukio smiled a bit, lowering his gun. "Not too late though. How are you?"

"I'll be fine..." Rin placed a hand on Kuro's back, pulling himself up. "How's Paku?"

There was his brother's infamously calm smile. "Shiemi gave some excellent first aid, I'm sure she'll make a full recovery."

Rin nodded, walking over towards the lockers where he had last seen Kamiki. The girl was sitting behind the lockers with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Are you ok?" He might not be fond of her, but he wasn't entirely callous.

"Don't look at me!" The watery shout caused the exact opposite of what she wanted though. Rin turned all of his attention to her. She was crying, the tears forming silver waterfalls on her pale cheeks. "I don't want anyone to see me. I couldn't help my only friend. I couldn't do anything! She must hate me, and I hate myself!"

Staring at her, Rin wondered if he was seeing the true Kamiki for the first time. Not just the tough and condescending girl, but the person that had wanted to help her friend and couldn't. It was strange, to suddenly think of her as a person after spending so much time disliking her.

With a sigh, Rin stripped off his shirt, putting it over her. "Put that on and leave ok? It'll be ok." It wasn't much, but it was as comforting as he could get at the moment.

"Uhm... Rin?" Turning around Rin found himself facing all of his other classmates staring at him, including his brother. "Why is your shirt off?"

Rin gulped, glad that his tail was still hidden. He'd forgotten that he couldn't really get naked in front of people anymore because of his... additions. Thankfully he was wearing a muscle shirt underneath his t-shirt so he wasn't completely naked on his upper half. "Ah... it got wet, so I took it off." He shifted a bit. "That's hardly the point now! We need to get Paku somewhere she can rest!"

Thankfully that snapped everyone out of their daze of staring at him. Rin followed behind until they got to the hallway leading to the room. "I'm, uh, just going to go and get a new shirt." Rin didn't wait for a response, quickly heading to the room. He'd had enough mingling for one day, now he just wanted to shut himself into his room away from everyone for awhile.

The demon climbed up the side of a nearby building, heading to where its master waited. When it arrived, it groveled in front of the tall figure, letting out a keening sound.

The man reached out, placing a hand on its head. "Did you fail? Or are you laughing at how far your master has fallen, becoming a demon's dog." Neuhaus stared at his demon before turning towards the distant lights of the dorm.

"We're not finished yet, Okumura Rin."

* * *

So here we have the end of the chapter. I did change the introduction of Kuro, mostly because I couldn't figure out how else to do it with Shiro still being alive. Also the way in which he was summoned was just a bit of fun. It was Nyan Cat or the Meow Mix jingle. Let me know what you think of the chapter and the stories direction, all reviews gratefully appreciated!


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